Display of transit features in mapping application

ABSTRACT

Some embodiments provide a mapping application that displays transit information in a map region. The mapping application identifies several transit lines for a map region. Each transit line corresponds to at least one transit vehicle route. Based on a particular zoom level of the map, the mapping application determines a subset of the transit lines to display in the map region. The mapping application displays the subset of the transit lines in the map region to emphasize the transit lines over other map features.

BACKGROUND

With proliferation of mobile devices such as smartphones, users areenjoying numerous applications of numerous kinds that can be run ontheir devices. One popular type of such application is mapping andnavigation applications that allow users to browse maps and get routedirections. Despite their popularity, these mapping and navigationapplications have yet to introduce a comprehensive and efficient transitrouting and navigation system to the market.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Some embodiments provide an integrated mapping and navigationapplication with several map browsing modes, including a novel transitbrowsing mode. The mapping and navigation application of someembodiments executes on a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet,etc.) and may be used to view maps (e.g., around a current devicelocation) and routes from a specified location (e.g., the currentlocation of the device) to a specified destination. In some embodiments,the map browsing modes include a standard map browsing mode thatdisplays a first schematic map of a region emphasizing a first set offeatures and a transit map browsing mode that displays a secondschematic map of the region emphasizing a second set of transit-relatedfeatures. The map browsing modes of some embodiments may also include araster-image based mode, and a hybrid of the standard (or transit) modewith the raster-image based mode.

In some embodiments, the standard map browsing mode emphasizes roads,land cover (e.g., parks, etc.), places of interest, waterways, etc. bypresenting these map constructs using bright and vivid colors, as wellas prominently displaying road and place of interest names, road shields(e.g., Interstate highway shields), etc. In the transit map browsingmode, however, these constructs are de-emphasized in favor oftransit-related constructs. For example, in some embodiments, the samemap region is displayed in transit mode with fewer roads displayed andlabeled, and the land cover, roads, and waterways displayed using morefaded coloration. However, in transit mode, the application displays thetransit lines and transit stations in the region, using much more vividcolors. In some embodiments, the application uses transit line colorsbased on the colors used by the transit system providers to identifydifferent transit routes in the region. In some embodiments, theapplication uses stylesheets to render the same data (e.g., the samevector-based polygons) using different textures and/or colors instandard mode and transit mode. For instance, the stylesheet mightspecify a bright green texture for parks in standard mode but a palergreen texture for the same parks in transit mode.

As mentioned, the transit mode of some embodiments emphasizestransit-related map constructs, including transit lines and transitstations. In some embodiments, different zoom levels of the transit modewill display different features. At the lowest zoom levels (e.g.,displaying an entire country or continent), intra-city transit will notbe shown, and only the large-scale transit lines (e.g., interstate trainor bus lines, large intra-state lines) will be shown. These maycorrelate to a specific transit route or transit provider, or simplyshow the existence of transit routes between cities. As the user zoomsin to higher zoom levels, the application displays more detailed transitinformation in some embodiments. Smaller-scale transit lines are shown,using colors that differentiate the different lines. In addition,transit line shields are displayed along the lines to allow the user toidentify the different transit providers and/or transit routes.

In some embodiments, at a given zoom level, the application displayscertain transit lines more prominently than other transit lines. Forinstance, certain lines deemed to be more important for the particularmap region (e.g., higher-frequency lines, lines for a particular transitsystem, lines that carry more passengers on a regular basis, etc.) aredisplayed using thicker lines and/or brighter, more saturatedcoloration. In addition, when multiple transit routes share the sametracks (for, e.g., trains) or roads (for, e.g., buses), some embodimentsdisplay the multiple routes as a single line, with multiple line shieldsto indicate the multiple different transit routes (e.g., differenttrains or buses). When one of the routes branches off, some embodimentsuse the single line shield to identify that branch, in some casesdisplaying the branch as a thinner line than used for the trunk line.For more important transit systems in the area, some embodiments displaymulti-colored lines next to each other rather than grouping the linesinto a single transit line. In addition, when multiple lines useparallel, but separate tracks, the application of some embodimentsdisplays the lines separately.

Some embodiments display road labels in transit mode, though for fewerroads than in the standard map browsing mode. Specifically, someembodiments display road labels for roads along which transit linestravel (e.g., bus lines, trolley lines, etc.). In some embodiments, theapplication displays these road labels on the road (as in standard mapbrowsing mode) when the road label does not obscure any transit stops orstations along the road. However, when the transit line includes toomany transit stops or stations, the application displays the road labelnext to the road rather than overlaid on the road (as when displayingtraffic information in standard mode of some embodiments).

In addition to transit lines, the application also prominently displaystransit stations, which also vary in appearance based on the zoom level.At very low zoom levels, the application, may only display major citiesalong the transit lines, not indicating any information about particularstations within the cities. At slightly higher zoom levels, but stillshowing a large-scale transit map, more cities are displayed, but onlyone station representation is shown for the city (even if multiplestations or stops are present in the city). As the zoom level isincreased, more transit station information will be displayed.

In some embodiments, the transit stations or stops along a transit lineare displayed using the same color as the line (e.g., circles of thatcolor), and labeled with the station name. When a station includes stopsfor more than one transit route, however, some embodiments use a whitestation representation (referred to herein as a pill). The white stationpills may be circles, or may be represented using oblong shapes so thatthe station representation is intersected by the transit linerepresentation of each transit route that runs through or stops at thestation. This enables users to identify which stations allow fortransfers between transit routes. In addition, when stations areconnected (e.g., by above-ground or underground walkways), someembodiments display these connections between the white station pillsonce the user has zoomed in enough on the transit map.

At still higher zoom levels, some embodiments display an outline of thetransit station shape using polygons, with the entrances and exits ofthe station highlighted in the map. Some embodiments use a transparenttexture to indicate below-ground stations (e.g., subway terminals) and amore opaque texture to indicate above-ground stations (with a singlestation possibly having both above-ground and below-ground sections).

In some embodiments, the transit information may be dynamic based onincident information as well as the time of day. Some embodimentsinclude selectable items on the map display indicating transit-relatedincidents, which may be selected to view further information about theincident. These incidents may indicate line or station closures,accidents, construction, etc., which may affect the travel time along atransit route. Furthermore, some embodiments display transit lines andstations differently at different times of the day, depending on whetherthe routes are operating and the stations are open or closed.Specifically, some embodiments display transit lines as dashed lines(rather than solid lines), using dimmer coloration, or otherwisede-emphasized at times of day that the corresponding routes are notoperating. Similarly, transit stations that are closed are displayedusing cross-hatching, a different color, etc. to indicate that thestation is not open.

The transit constructs (lines and stations) are selectable in someembodiments. Specifically, selecting a transit line causes the mappingapplication to emphasize that line by comparison to the non-selectedlines in the map display. Some embodiments display the selected lineusing a thicker line and/or higher color saturation, while alsodesaturating and/or thinning the non-selected lines. In otherembodiments, the application desaturates and/or thins the non-selectedlines, while leaving the selected line the same. In addition, transitstations along the non-selected line are de-emphasized in favor of thetransit stations along the selected line. Users can also, in someembodiments, select a transit station in the map display. Doing socauses the application to emphasize all of the transit lines thatintersect the selected station (and their respective stations and stops)in some embodiments, as though those lines were selected. In addition,the application displays a banner for the selected station, which isselectable to view additional station information.

In addition to the transit browsing mode, some embodiments include atransit navigation mode. In transit navigation mode, the applicationprovides directions for various transit legs of a route to adestination, as well as directions for walking between the transit legs.The map display during transit navigation mode emphasizes the transitlines that are on the route over those that are not on the route. Inaddition, when walking to board a transit vehicle, the applicationprovides detailed instructions for navigating a station, including whichentrance of the station to use and from which platform to board atransit vehicle (if relevant). During a transit leg, the applicationhighlights the stops on the current leg and updates the progress alongthat leg, so as to provide the user with an indication as to when todisembark the transit vehicle.

The preceding Summary is intended to serve as a brief introduction tosome embodiments of the invention. It is not meant to be an introductionor overview of all inventive subject matter disclosed in this document.The Detailed Description that follows and the Drawings that are referredto in the Detailed Description further describe the embodimentsdescribed in the Summary as well as other embodiments. Accordingly, tounderstand all the embodiments described by this document, a full reviewof the Summary, the Detailed Description, and the Drawings is needed.Moreover, the claimed subject matters are not to be limited by theillustrative details in the Summary, the Detailed Description, and theDrawings, but rather are to be defined by the appended claims, becausethe claimed subject matters can be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from the spirit of the subject matters.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of this patent or patent application publication withcolor drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and paymentof the necessary fee.

The novel features of the invention are set forth in the appendedclaims. However, for purposes of explanation, several embodiments of theinvention are set forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a graphical user interface of anintegrated mapping application of some embodiments that includes atransit browsing mode.

FIGS. 2A-2B provide illustrative examples of the amount and types oftransit information displayed within a map at different zoom levels.

FIGS. 3 and 4 provide illustrative examples of transit stationrepresentations shown in different zoom levels of map regions.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of additional transit station informationthat the mapping application of some embodiments displays at high zoomlevels.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the differences between the same mappresented in the standard mode and the transit browsing mode of themapping application of some embodiments.

FIG. 7 conceptually illustrates a process of some embodiments forrendering a map display in transit mode for a particular zoom level ofthe map.

FIG. 8 conceptually illustrates a processing pipeline of the mappingapplication of some embodiments for rendering a map display based ondifferent map tiles and stylesheets according to a particular mode ofthe map application.

FIG. 9 illustrates various characteristics of different types of transitlines in the transit browsing mode of some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a trunk rail line that branches off toseveral separate rail lines.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a colored rail line in transitbrowsing mode that directly snaps on the actual railway trackrepresented in standard mode.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a map display of some embodiments thatgraphically indicates incidents along transit routes in a map region.

FIG. 13 illustrates the dynamic nature of transit lines and transitstations in the mapping application of some embodiments, with examplerail and bus lines and a transit station that are displayed differentlyat different times of day.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of the selection of a transit line for asingle transit route.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of the selection of a transit stationintersected by multiple transit routes.

FIG. 16 conceptually illustrates a process of some embodiments forrendering a map region in order to emphasize a selected transit linewhile de-emphasizing non-selected transit lines.

FIG. 17 illustrates three different examples of the same map region (aportion of San Francisco) displayed in the mapping application GUI ofsome embodiments.

FIG. 18 conceptually illustrates a process of some embodiments fordisplaying road labels in the transit mode of some embodiments.

FIG. 19 illustrates an example of a user searching for a destination intransit mode and initiating a transit route to the destination.

FIGS. 20-22 illustrate transit navigation panels during the course of atransit route between Central Park near 59^(th) Street and 10^(th)Street in Brooklyn.

FIG. 23 illustrates two examples of the map display of some embodimentsthat show walking directions to two different entrances of a transitstation.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example of the mapping application automaticallysnapping the map to a locality-specific orientation when the map isrotated near to that orientation.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example of the mapping application automaticallyrotating the map display to a locality-specific orientation whendisplaying a transit route.

FIG. 26 illustrates an example of an architecture of a mobile computingdevice with which some embodiments are implemented.

FIG. 27 conceptually illustrates another example of an electronic systemwith which some embodiments of the invention are implemented.

FIG. 28 illustrates a map service operating environment, according tosome embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of the invention, numerousdetails, examples, and embodiments of the invention are set forth anddescribed. However, it will be clear and apparent to one skilled in theart that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth andthat the invention may be practiced without some of the specific detailsand examples discussed.

Some embodiments provide an integrated mapping and navigationapplication with several map browsing modes, including a novel transitbrowsing mode. The mapping and navigation application of someembodiments executes on a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet,etc.) and may be used to view maps (e.g., around a current devicelocation) and routes from a specified location (e.g., the currentlocation of the device) to a specified destination. In some embodiments,the map browsing modes include a standard map browsing mode thatdisplays a first schematic map of a region emphasizing a first set offeatures and a transit map browsing mode that displays a secondschematic map of the region emphasizing a second set of transit-relatedfeatures. The map browsing modes of some embodiments may also include araster-image based mode, and a hybrid of the standard (or transit) modewith the raster-image based mode.

In some embodiments, the standard map browsing mode emphasizes roads,land cover (e.g., parks, etc.), places of interest, waterways, etc. bypresenting these map constructs using bright and vivid colors, as wellas prominently displaying road and place of interest names, road shields(e.g., Interstate highway shields), etc. In the transit map browsingmode, however, these constructs are de-emphasized in favor oftransit-related constructs. For example, in some embodiments, the samemap region is displayed in transit mode with fewer roads displayed andlabeled, and the land cover, roads, and waterways displayed using morefaded coloration. However, in transit mode, the application displays thetransit lines and transit stations in the region, using much more vividcolors. In some embodiments, the application uses transit line colorsbased on the colors used by the transit system providers to identifydifferent transit routes in the region. In some embodiments, theapplication uses stylesheets to render the same data (e.g., the samevector-based polygons) using different textures and/or colors instandard mode and transit mode. For instance, the stylesheet mightspecify a bright green texture for parks in standard mode but a palergreen texture for the same parks in transit mode.

As mentioned, the transit mode of some embodiments emphasizestransit-related map constructs, including transit lines and transitstations. In some embodiments, different zoom levels of the transit modewill display different features. At the lowest zoom levels (e.g.,displaying an entire country or continent), intra-city transit will notbe shown, and only the large-scale transit lines (e.g., interstate trainor bus lines, large intra-state lines) will be shown. These maycorrelate to a specific transit route or transit provider, or simplyshow the existence of transit routes between cities. As the user zoomsin to higher zoom levels, the application displays more detailed transitinformation in some embodiments. Smaller-scale transit lines are shown,using colors that differentiate the different lines. In addition,transit line shields are displayed along the lines to allow the user toidentify the different transit providers and/or transit routes.

In some embodiments, at a given zoom level, the application displayscertain transit lines more prominently than other transit lines. Forinstance, certain lines deemed to be more important for the particularmap region (e.g., higher-frequency lines, lines for a particular transitsystem, lines that carry more passengers on a regular basis, etc.) aredisplayed using thicker lines and/or brighter, more saturatedcoloration. In addition, when multiple transit routes share the sametracks (for, e.g., trains) or roads (for, e.g., buses), some embodimentsdisplay the multiple routes as a single line, with multiple line shieldsto indicate the multiple different transit routes (e.g., differenttrains or buses). When one of the routes branches off, some embodimentsuse the single line shield to identify that branch, in some casesdisplaying the branch as a thinner line than used for the trunk line.For more important transit systems in the area, some embodiments displaymulti-colored lines next to each other rather than grouping the linesinto a single transit line. In addition, when multiple lines useparallel, but separate tracks, the application of some embodimentsdisplays the lines separately.

Some embodiments display road labels in transit mode, though for fewerroads than in the standard map browsing mode. Specifically, someembodiments display road labels for roads along which transit linestravel (e.g., bus lines, trolley lines, etc.). In some embodiments, theapplication displays these road labels on the road (as in standard mapbrowsing mode) when the road label does not obscure any transit stops orstations along the road. However, when the transit line includes toomany transit stops or stations, the application displays the road labelnext to the road rather than overlaid on the road (as when displayingtraffic information in standard mode of some embodiments).

In addition to transit lines, the application also prominently displaystransit stations, which also vary in appearance based on the zoom level.At very low zoom levels, the application, may only display major citiesalong the transit lines, not indicating any information about particularstations within the cities. At slightly higher zoom levels, but stillshowing a large-scale transit map, more cities are displayed, but onlyone station representation is shown for the city (even if multiplestations or stops are present in the city). As the zoom level isincreased, more transit station information will be displayed.

In some embodiments, the transit stations or stops along a transit lineare displayed using the same color as the line (e.g., circles of thatcolor), and labeled with the station name. When a station includes stopsfor more than one transit route, however, some embodiments use a whitestation representation (referred to herein as a pill). The white stationpills may be circles, or may be represented using oblong shapes so thatthe station representation is intersected by the transit linerepresentation of each transit route that runs through or stops at thestation. This enables users to identify which stations allow fortransfers between transit routes. In addition, when stations areconnected (e.g., by above-ground or underground walkways), someembodiments display these connections between the white station pillsonce the user has zoomed in enough on the transit map.

At still higher zoom levels, some embodiments display an outline of thetransit station shape using polygons, with the entrances and exits ofthe station highlighted in the map. Some embodiments use a transparenttexture to indicate below-ground stations (e.g., subway terminals) and amore opaque texture to indicate above-ground stations (with a singlestation possibly having both above-ground and below-ground sections).

In some embodiments, the transit information may be dynamic based onincident information as well as the time of day. Some embodimentsinclude selectable items on the map display indicating transit-relatedincidents, which may be selected to view further information about theincident. These incidents may indicate line or station closures,accidents, construction, etc., which may affect the travel time along atransit route. Furthermore, some embodiments display transit lines andstations differently at different times of the day, depending on whetherthe routes are operating and the stations are open or closed.Specifically, some embodiments display transit lines as dashed lines(rather than solid lines), using dimmer coloration, or otherwisede-emphasized at times of day that the corresponding routes are notoperating. Similarly, transit stations that are closed are displayedusing cross-hatching, a different color, etc. to indicate that thestation is not open.

The transit constructs (lines and stations) are selectable in someembodiments. Specifically, selecting a transit line causes the mappingapplication to emphasize that line by comparison to the non-selectedlines in the map display. Some embodiments display the selected lineusing a thicker line and/or higher color saturation, while alsodesaturating and/or thinning the non-selected lines. In otherembodiments, the application desaturates and/or thins the non-selectedlines, while leaving the selected line the same. In addition, transitstations along the non-selected line are de-emphasized in favor of thetransit stations along the selected line. Users can also, in someembodiments, select a transit station in the map display. Doing socauses the application to emphasize all of the transit lines thatintersect the selected station (and their respective stations and stops)in some embodiments, as though those lines were selected. In addition,the application displays a banner for the selected station, which isselectable to view additional station information.

In addition to the transit browsing mode, some embodiments include atransit navigation mode. In transit navigation mode, the applicationprovides directions for various transit legs of a route to adestination, as well as directions for walking between the transit legs.The map display during transit navigation mode emphasizes the transitlines that are on the route over those that are not on the route. Inaddition, when walking to board a transit vehicle, the applicationprovides detailed instructions for navigating a station, including whichentrance of the station to use and from which platform to board atransit vehicle (if relevant). During a transit leg, the applicationhighlights the stops on the current leg and updates the progress alongthat leg, so as to provide the user with an indication as to when todisembark the transit vehicle.

I. Map Display in Transit Mode

The integrated mapping application of some embodiments includes severaldifferent modes for displaying a map, including a transit mode thatemphasizes certain transit-related constructs (transit lines, transitstations, etc.). When a user initiates a transit browsing mode fromanother mode (e.g., a standard map mode, a raster-based satellite orflyover mode, a hybrid map/flyover mode, etc.), some embodiments modifythe map display. Specifically, some embodiments modify the mapcartography to display and emphasize transit stations and the transitlines that service and intersect those transit stations, while otherfeatures emphasized in the previous map rendering mode are diminished(e.g., highways, roads, parks, etc.). In some embodiments, the standardmap features are displayed in such a way that they fade into thebackground, while the transit lines are displayed in more vibrant colorsin the foreground of the map display.

A. Initiating Transit Mode

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a graphical user interface (GUI) 100 ofan integrated mapping application of some embodiments that includes atransit browsing mode. The GUI 100 is displayed on a device thatexecutes the mapping application, such as a smart phone, tablet, laptopcomputer, desktop computer, etc. This figure specifically illustrates anexample of initiating a transit browsing mode through the mappingapplication GUI over three stages 105-115. The transit browsing mode hasa novel user interface (UI) design that seamlessly and cohesivelyintegrates transit information for a particular locality in which theGUI 100 is displaying.

The first stage 105 illustrates the mapping application displaying a mapGUI 100 in the standard map mode of the application. This mapspecifically shows Manhattan, N.Y., and surrounding localities (e.g.,portions of New Jersey, Brooklyn, etc.). As shown in the figure, thestandard mode of the mapping application emphasizes various features inthe map, including roads of various sizes, parks, points of interest,geographical features, etc. In some embodiments, the standard mapbrowsing mode includes various user interface items (not shown in thisfigure), that allow the user to, e.g., switch between 2D and 3D mapviews, select the map browsing mode, and search for a location on themap. The user can search for a location in order to retrieve navigationinstructions to the location (and subsequently enter a navigation mode)in some embodiments. In addition, some embodiments allow the user toview traffic information while in the standard mode.

The second stage 110 shows a mode selection GUI 125 of the mappingapplication after the user has selected a control (not shown) within theGUI 100 of the first stage 105. When the user selects the control (e.g.,via a touchscreen gesture if the application operates on a touchscreendevice, such as a tap operation, a swipe operation, etc.), someembodiments display the mode selection GUI 125 by sliding in the GUIover all or a portion of the map view, replacing the map view GUI 100with the mode selection GUI 125, etc. The mode selection GUI 125 of someembodiments includes various controls that allow the user to, e.g., dropa pin at a particular location on the map (e.g., the center of the map),change the map view from 2D to 3D, report a problem to a centralized mapprovider service, show traffic conditions on the map, and potentiallyother actions.

In addition, the mode selection GUI includes several UI controls 130-145for selecting different map browsing modes. As shown, these include thecontrol 130 for selecting a standard map mode, the control 135 forselecting a satellite or flyover map mode, and the control 140 forselecting a hybrid of these two modes. In some embodiments, the standardmap mode provides a schematic representation of a map that uses maptiles with constructs defined in terms of, e.g., vector graphics, andhighlights (with labels, symbols, etc.) various constructs (roads,places of interest, bodies of water, etc.) in the map. The satellite orflyover map mode, in some embodiments, uses raster-based graphics (incombination with vector graphics, in some embodiments) to display images(in 2D and 3D) of the map area. The hybrid mode, in some embodiments,uses the raster images of the satellite mode, while overlaying certainlabels and symbols in order to indicate road information, place ofinterest information, etc. Some embodiments do not have both a hybridand satellite mode, only offering one or the other.

Lastly, the transit mode control 145 causes the mapping application todisplay the map region in transit mode. In some embodiments, the transitmode is similar to the standard mode, in that the map region isdisplayed as a schematic representation rather than using images.However, in the transit mode of some embodiments, the map applicationhighlights and emphasizes different constructs, primarily relating tothe transit systems (e.g., subways, light rails, bus lines, ferries,high-speed rails, trolleys, cable cars, aerial tramways, etc.) presentin the map region. Each type of mode representation may allow the userto view specific information without cluttering the mapping applicationdisplay with unnecessary information. In the second stage 110 of FIG. 1,the user selects (e.g., via a tap operation on the touchscreen) thetransit mode control 145 to initiate transit browsing mode.

The third stage 115, as a result, shows the same map region as in thefirst stage 105 (i.e., Manhattan and surrounding areas), but nowdisplays this map region in transit browsing mode rather than thestandard map mode. As a result, the map GUI 100 presents differentinformation for the map region. For instance, some of the featurespreviously emphasized in standard mode map (e.g., highways, roads,points of interest, etc.) are now less emphasized in the transitbrowsing mode map. Specifically, roads and road signs that were oncecolorful and predominant are now faded in the background as to notobstruct the transit information being displayed in the transit browsingmode. Important features in standard mode that were colorful are nowrepresented in a grayish (completely or partially desaturated) color inthe transit browsing mode because they are less important to the user inthis particular mode.

The transit browsing mode instead presents transit information useful inthe displayed map region more vividly. For instance, the variouscolorful lines that traverse through the map represent various transitlines that service transit routes, which are navigable by the user.These transit routes may all be routes for the same type of transitvehicle, or may include routes for various different types of transitvehicles (subway, light rail, bus, cable car, etc.). In addition to theemphasized colorful lines representing the transit routes, the mapincludes several emphasized shapes that represent stops or transitstations that are positioned along the lines. In some embodiments, thetransit station shapes may include colored shapes (e.g., colored thesame color as the line that intersects the station), white shapes (e.g.,for stations intersected by multiple lines), etc. In some embodiments,larger stations intersected by multiple transit lines are displayedusing polygonal representations of the actual transit station (at leastin some zoom levels). In some embodiments, some such stations arerepresented as an elongated white pill intersected by the multipletransit lines. Accordingly, transit information presented regarding thelocality allows the user to identify operational transit routes from onelocation to another using various types of transit vehicles and transitvehicle routes.

B. Transit Mode Map Characteristics

As mentioned above, the transit browsing mode allows a user to viewtransit information for a particular locality. When a user views a mapin the integrated mapping application, there are instances in which theuser wants to view certain information while not being distracted byother unnecessary information. Once the user has entered the transitbrowsing mode, transit information presented to the user is carefullycurated so as to not display too much or too little information withrespect to the zoom level of the locality displayed in the map. Severalexamples of the amount and types of transit information displayed in themap will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2-6.

1. Transit Map at Different Zoom Levels

FIGS. 2A-2B provide illustrative examples of the amount and types oftransit information displayed within a map at different zoom levels.Four stages 205-220 illustrate different zoom levels of a region in amap 200 as displayed in the mapping application GUI of some embodiments.Specifically, the four stages 205-220 illustrate the increasing levelsof detail of transit information displayed by the mapping application ofsome embodiments at successively higher zoom levels.

The first stage 205 illustrates a map 200 at a low zoom level thatallows for the display of most of California. Centered on the SanFrancisco Bay Area, the map displays multiple transit lines 201 thatservice transit vehicle routes throughout the greater Bay Area andneighboring regions. In some embodiments, the displayed transit linesdisplayed at a particular zoom level are the transit lines operated byspecific transit system providers. For instance, at very low zoom levels(e.g., even lower zoom levels than shown in the first stage 205), theapplication may only display transit lines operated by national transitsystem providers (e.g., Amtrak trains, Greyhound bus lines, etc.), whileregional transit system providers are not shown. In other embodiments,the transit lines shown on the map at a low zoom level represent anoverview of the transit network between cities in a particular region,and do not necessarily correspond to one transit provider or another.For example, at such a low zoom level, a particular drawn line maycorrespond to multiple transit providers, simply indicating that transitis available between two cities.

As mentioned, the map at this stage 205 is centered around the SanFrancisco Bay Area. In some embodiments, the transit lines that aredisplayed are for areas within a particular distance of the location ofthe device executing the mapping application. In other embodiments, thelocality in which the transit lines are displayed is in relation to thelocation of the map 200 that is located in the center of the map region.Although in the map 200 only a few transit lines are displayed, in someembodiments other transit lines may be displayed throughout anygeographical location displayed within the map 200. In otherembodiments, a user must request specific transit lines for display.

Transit station shapes (referred to herein in some cases as “pills”) 202on the transit lines 201 indicate stops along the transit lines. Suchstops my include, but are not limited to: stops for only a particulartransit line, transit transfer stations for at least two transit lines,a transit station, etc. The pills 202 are labeled with the city names inwhich the stops are located. At the low zoom level of stage 205,displaying every stop that intersects each transit line would result ina cluttered map. Thus, the map application specifically displays thepills 202 to coincide with certain cities named on the map at whichtransit stations occur. Some embodiments only show some of the citiesthat include transit stops, with different embodiments using differentcriteria to select these cities. For instance, various embodiments mayuse the largest cities along a transit line, the cities with the mosttransit stops for the line, cities that act as transit hubs, the startand end cities for the transit line, etc. In order to preserve theaesthetics of the map, other stops in intermediate cities are notdisplayed at lower zoom levels in some embodiments. In addition, allstops in the named cities are grouped together and indicated in the map200 using a single pill 202 for the city in which the stops are located(e.g., San Francisco), rather than multiple pills for the multipletransit stations in the city. In some embodiments, each transit stationindicated by a city name represents the main transit station within thatcity. In other embodiments, the transit station merely indicates thegeographical position of that city it represents.

The second stage 210 illustrates the map 200 displaying a slightlyhigher zoom level of the northern California region. With more of afocus on the San Francisco Bay Area, the map 200 is able to display moreinformation regarding the transit lines in this region. For instance,along with the transit lines 201 that are displayed in the first stage205, other, smaller transit lines 203 between cities in the SanFrancisco Bay Area geographical region (which is in the center of themap region) are displayed. Also, additional stops, indicated by thecities in which they reside, are displayed along the original transitlines 201.

The transit lines 201 and 203 are displayed with different colors. Insome embodiments, the different colored transit lines represent transitvehicle routes that are operated by different transit system providers,or different transit routes (which might be operated by the sameprovider). For instance, one of the transit lines 201 is displayed asred and labeled as being operated by the transit system provider“Caltrain”, while another of the lines 201 is purple and labeled as“ACE”. However, some of the other colored lines 201 and 203 connecting,e.g., San Francisco, Oakland, and Suisun, do not indicate the transitsystem providers. In some embodiments, this information that allows auser to determine which transit system provider operates a particulartransit route is available for transit lines that are at least aspecified length, or have at least a specified length that is separatefrom other transit lines, such that the information does not clutter thedisplay of the map.

The third stage 215 illustrates that the user has zoomed in further onthe San Francisco Bay Area in the transit map 200, extending eastwardsto Stockton. The map 200 now displays additional transit lines, each indifferent colors, as well as additional transit stations/stops. The SanFrancisco area now includes a ribbon of four lines running from DalyCity through the Embarcadero, splitting up in the East Bay, amongvarious other transit lines that are now included in the map.Furthermore, the map now shows ferry lines running throughout the bay.

The additional transit stations shown on the map now include both thecolored pills (e.g., purple circles along the ACE line, red circlesalong the Caltrain line, etc.) as well as white pills (both circular andelongated) at various hubs with multiple lines. The white station pillsthat represent transit transfer stations, or hubs, indicate that a usermay switch between transit lines at these stations. In contrast, stopsthat are represented as pills of the same color as the transit linesthat run through them are single stops along the particular transitlines. These stops allow a user to get on and off the correspondingtransit vehicle that services the transit lines, but do not lendthemselves to easily transferring from one transit vehicle route toanother.

Further, a larger number of the transit lines indicate the transitservice provider now that they occupy a larger portion of the GUI (e.g.,the blue line from Gilroy up through Martinez labeled “CapitalCorridor”). The more crowded, shorter lines (e.g., those only operatingcloser to San Francisco) are not labeled, to prevent clutter.

The fourth stage 220 shows an even closer view of San Francisco, Calif.,at a higher zoom level. The map 200 displays yet more transit lines withadditional transit stops (as well as additional labels. Some embodimentsdisplay certain transit lines of the same service as a single line whenthey follow the same path (e.g., same roads, tracks, etc.). Forinstance, the MUNI lines between the West Portal and Church stopsinclude the L, K, and M lines all displayed as a single line. In someembodiments, however, transit lines that follow parallel but separatepaths, or even the same paths are displayed separately within the mapdisplay. For instance, the red, yellow, blue, and green BART linesbetween Daly City and West Oakland follow predominantly the same set oftrain tracks, and are drawn separately (e.g., because they are deemedmore important than the MUNI lines in this region). In some embodiments,lines deemed more important (e.g., operating with higher frequency,carrying more passengers, etc.) are split apart, as with theaforementioned BART lines.

Showing multiple transit lines that service the same area allows a userto determine whether a transfer from one transit route to another isnecessary when traveling from one place to another. Each transit linethat is displayed at various zoom levels preserves its color in order toallow a user to quickly identify which transit lines run through aparticular area in a locality. In some embodiments, the color of thetransit line corresponds to the color used by the transit vehicleprovider to represent that transit route, or is similar to that color.In other embodiments, the color of the transit line is chosen in orderto not conflict with colors of other transit lines displayed in the map.

At such a high zoom level, the fourth stage 220 shows additional detailsnot previously viewable. For example, multiple pills are now used torepresent separate stations within a city. For instance, the Embarcaderostation and the Civic Center station are represented using separatewhite pills in San Francisco, along with numerous other station. Most ofthe stops along each transit line are now labeled with the particularstation name instead of the city name (though in some cases, the cityname and station name will be the same). When viewing the map at thiszoom level, giving the user the station name allows the user to identitya more specific travel route instead of an overview of the travel linesin the locality. Also, the map displays multiple transit lines 207serviced by transit vehicle routes that are operated by the same transitsystem provider. Once again, this allows the user to identify a travelroute with more accuracy. In addition, as in the standard map browsingmode, additional street names and POI names are displayed, which givesthe user more context regarding the displayed region.

2. Transit Stations

In some embodiments, additional details regarding transit stationsbecome viewable at high zoom levels. For instance, a transit stationthat has a below-ground transit vehicle (e.g., subway) that run ontransit vehicle routes intersecting the transit station may not displaythe subterranean sections of the transit station until shown at a higherzoom level, which reduces the amount of unnecessary information from themap.

FIGS. 3 and 4 provide illustrative examples of transit stationrepresentations shown in different zoom levels of a map region.Specifically, two stages 305 and 310 of FIG. 3 illustrate a first trainstation in Daly City (south of San Francisco) at two intermediate zoomlevels, then two stages 405 and 410 of FIG. 4 illustrate a second trainstation in Brooklyn at two higher zoom levels. These figures illustratethe increasing levels of transit station detail displayed by the mappingapplication of some embodiments.

The first stage 305 of FIG. 3 illustrates the map 300 displaying severaltransit lines in the vicinity of San Francisco, Calif. These transitlines intersect various transit stops/stations that are representeddifferently in the displayed map. For instance, some transit stations,such as the transit station 301, are represented by colored circlesmatching the color of the single lines that stop at those stations. Inaddition, some embodiments at this or higher zoom levels, uses stationsrepresented by shields that indicate the specific transit system (e.g.,stations represented by MUNI or BART logos). In some embodiments, asshown, the stations for different transit systems may have differentsizes (e.g., based on the thickness of the transit line). Transferstations (e.g., between lines of one transit system, between differenttransit systems, etc.) are shown as white station pills, as describedabove. Examples of such stations include the transfer stations 302 and303, which are shown as different sizes.

The second stage 310 shows that the mapping application now displays themap 300 of San Francisco at a higher zoom level. In this example, thesize of station 302 (the non-circular Daly City station) has increased.In addition, the map now displays additional detail for thestation—specifically, the map shows the boundaries of the stationitself, in a salmon color. As will be shown in the subsequent figure,the boundaries of the station can be displayed in order to provide theuser significantly more detail about the stations.

In some embodiments, when multiple separate stations (e.g., fordifferent transit systems) are connected, the mapping applicationdisplays the connects between such stations at higher zoom levels. Insome embodiments, these connections are used to indicate that there aredirect walkable connections between the stations (e.g., undergroundpathways, etc.), that do not require navigating the roads to walkbetween stations in order to transfer from one transit system to theother. Some embodiments display these stations as white, even though thestations may appear to be only for a single transit line.

The first stage 405 of FIG. 4 illustrates an area of Brooklyn, centeredaround the Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station complex. As shown,this area includes several stations for different systems, including theLong Island Railroad (LIRR) and New York subway systems. At this higherzoom level, the salmon schematic representation of the transit stationis slightly visible. In some cases, if several stations are connected,at this or slightly higher zoom levels the application displays separatepills or system shields, but the map representation also includes thepolygons for the station to indicate the station outline as well as anywalkways between the stations (using, e.g., the semi-transparent salmoncolor).

The second stage 410 shows additional detail for the transit stationcomplex around the Barclays Center. This stage illustrates the complexas a whole with significant detail. For instance, the application nowdisplays entrances and exits 414, in order to give the user informationabout where the station may be entered or exited. The station entrancesand exits will be described in further detail below by reference to FIG.23. In some embodiments, the application not only displays an indicatorfor the entrance/exit displayed, but also indicates the type of accesspoint as well (i.e., whether the access point is an exit, entrance, orboth, whether there is an elevator, escalator, stairs, etc. available,and other information).

In addition, this illustrates that the single transit complex includesseveral different stops for different transit systems and differentlines. Specifically, the badge 406 represents the stops for subway linesD, N, and R, the badge 407 represents the stop for subway lines B and Q,the badge 408 represents the stops for subway lines 2, 3, 4, and 5, andthe badge 409 represents the stop for the LIRR. As the user zooms in, inthis situation, the transit map browsing mode provides more detailedtransit information. In the case of transit stations, the stationsindicate where within the stations the stops for different transit linesare located. However, at lower zoom levels, stops within a station fordifferent lines (e.g., multiple hallways) are grouped together (i.e.,when the scale of the map renders the distinction between differentportions of a station meaningless because the distance between the stopsis a negligible portion of the display). In some embodiments, eachbadged hallway displays (i) the lines that stop at that location and(ii) the different types of possible transfers between transit lines. Insome embodiments, several different transit routes can traverse througheach hallway on the same transit line, and/or several different types oftransit vehicles can run through each hallway.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of additional transit station informationthat the mapping application of some embodiments displays at high zoomlevels. Specifically, this figure illustrates a map application GUI 500in transit mode displaying a map region in New York City, with a transitstation 505 (representing Penn Station in Manhattan) prominentlydisplayed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the mapping application displays various types ofuseful information to a user regarding the transit station 505. Forinstance, the application differentiates the display of portions of thetransit station that are above-ground compared to portions that arebelow-ground. In this case, the above-ground portions are displayed asdarker and more opaque than the below-ground portions, which are lighterand more transparent. This information may be useful in indicating tothe user where she will have to get to in order to catch a particulartransit vehicle or after exiting a particular transit vehicle. Thedistinguishing between upper and lower levels enables a user to traversea complex transit station with ease. The transit station 505 alsodisplays badges 520 that represent the different transit routes thatstop at the transit station, and shows where in the transit stationthese various routes can be found. In this example, the mappingapplication shows the location of the subway stops (one for lines 1, 2,and 3, and the other for lines A, C, and E) in relation to each otherand the rest of Penn Station, which has tracks for numerous other lines(New Jersey Transit, LIRR, etc.) In addition, the applications displayspoints of interest within the station—for example, this shows MadisonSquare Garden and Tracks Raw Bar & Grill located within Penn Station.

3. Standard Map vs. Transit Map

As mentioned above, the transit browsing mode is one of several modes ofthe integrated mapping application of some embodiments. Different modesavailable in the integrated mapping application display (1) the sameinformation in different formats and/or (2) different types ofinformation. Some embodiments, as noted above, include both a standardmode that emphasizes browsing and searching for different locations inthe map as well as a transit mode that emphasizes transit constructs inthe map. The standard mode also allows a user to initiate a navigationpresentation of some embodiments for traveling from one location toanother via roads (e.g., by searching for a location and then requestinga navigation route to that location). The transit mode of someembodiments also enables a user to search for different locations in themap and request a transit-based route to the location in someembodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the differences between the same mappresented in the standard mode and the transit browsing mode of themapping application of some embodiments.

This example is provided in terms of two map displays 605-610 that eachdisplay the same map region in different modes. The first map display605 shows a map of San Francisco, Calif. in the standard mode of theintegrated mapping application, while the second map display 610 showsthe same map region in the transit browsing mode of the integratedmapping application. The distinctions discussed below are a few of thedifferences between these two map browsing modes in some embodiments,though other embodiments may include other differences between themodes. In some embodiments, information displayed in one mode may not bedisplayed in another mode, while other embodiments display the sameinformation for any map region presented in the GUI (at the same zoomlevel) irrespective of the mode.

There are many differences between the transit mode's map display 610and the standard mode's map display 605. First, the colors of thetransit map displayed in the map display 610 are dimmed in comparison tothe standard mode map that is shown in the map display 605.Specifically, geographical features of the standard mode map arebrighter and bolder, while the same features displayed in the transitmode map appear washed out (e.g., desaturated). For instance, the bay inthe standard mode map display 605 is a bright blue, while the same bayin the transit mode map display 610 is a very light blue. Similarly,parks in the standard mode display are shown in various colors frombright green to a dark forest green, whereas these same parks aresignificantly lighter in the transit mode display. Even the generic landcover is a bright beige in the standard mode display 605 and a moremuted grayish/white in the transit mode display 610.

As another difference, the mapping application of some embodimentsdisplays point of interest indicators in different sizes and colorsbetween the two modes. In this example, for instance, the indicators 616in the standard mode (indicating Alamo Square and St. Mary's MedicalCenter) are shown in vibrant colors (green and red, respectively),whereas the corresponding indicators 615 are dimmer (desaturated) in thetransit mode display. Some of the points of interest shown in thestandard mode map are not even marked in the transit mode map, as well.However, the transit mode map 610 displays other points of interest insome embodiments that are along or near transit lines, and which aredeemed likely to be of interest to a transit-goer (e.g., a tourist.Thus, the transit mode map includes building representations of, e.g.,St. Mary's Cathedral 620, Coit Tower 625, etc.

The roads, including both surface streets and highways, are alsodisplayed differently between the two modes. Surface streets(non-freeways) in the standard map mode are displayed in differentcolors and sizes, either being represented as single gray lines (forsmaller streets), thick white lines (for larger streets), or thickyellow lines with orange borders (for yet larger streets). Freeways(i.e., limited-access motorways) are shown as a brighter and thickeryellow lines with orange borders to clearly stand out as larger roads.In the transit mode of some embodiments, however, the streets aresignificantly de-emphasized, with non-transit-related streets andhighways (i.e., those that do not correspond to transit lines) displayedas either thin gray lines. For freeways, some embodiments use thickwhite lines. Similarly, the highway shields (e.g., for the 101 freeway)are larger and bright in the map viewing mode, but smaller and faded ornot present in the transit mode. Some embodiments replace the freewaysor other roads entirely, and replace them with transit lines. In someembodiments, any type of road (e.g., street, highway, etc.) notdedicated to the types of transit information the transit mode is tryingto convey will be either deemphasized or replaced with necessary transitinformation.

Each mode described above will emphasize and/or deemphasize features intheir respective map displays based on the information the mode istrying to convey. For instance, standard mode allows a user to performmany tasks (e.g., browsing, searching, initiating a navigationpresentation, etc.). Therefore, the standard mode of some embodimentsemphasizes location information within the map region. Although, thetransit browsing mode allows a user to perform many of the tasks as instandard mode, transit browsing mode is explicitly meant to emphasizemass transit options (i.e., transportation other than personal motorvehicles). Hence, the transit browsing mode of some embodimentsemphasizes transit information and deemphasizes other information (e.g.,streets, locations, etc.) on the premise that when a user initiates thetransit mode, the user is mainly interested in transit information.

4. Operations for Displaying Map in Transit Mode

FIG. 7 conceptually illustrates a process 700 of some embodiments forrendering a map display in transit mode for a particular zoom level ofthe map. In some embodiments, the process 700 is performed by a mappingapplication operating on a device to display map information to a user.The device may be a mobile device (e.g., a touchscreen mobile devicesuch as a smart phone or tablet), a desktop or laptop computer, or otherdevice on which a mapping application operates.

As shown, the process 700 begins by identifying (at 705) the currentmode of the mapping application that will be used to display a mapregion at a particular zoom level. As described above, in someembodiments the map browsing modes include at least transit mode andstandard mode, which display schematic maps using, e.g., vector graphicsrepresentation of the map constructs in a map region. In addition, someembodiments include a satellite or flyover mode that usescamera-captured images of the real world map region to create a map, aswell as a hybrid mode that combines some of the vector graphics and/orlabeling data of the standard mode with the camera-captured images. Someembodiments may also include 2D and 3D versions of each of these modes,or at least of the standard mode. In addition, as described below, themapping application may include one or more navigation modes (which maybe rendered in 2D or 3D, in some embodiments). In some embodiments, theuser can change the zoom level of the map through, e.g., touchinteractions with the map display, and the application may displaydifferent features or display features differently at different zoomlevels.

The process 700 retrieves (at 710) the map tiles needed for the mapregion in the particular zoom level and display mode. In someembodiments, the mapping application uses tile-based rendering, and usesdifferent sets of tiles for different zoom levels, or for groups of zoomlevels (e.g., using one set of tiles for a range of zoom levels byinterpolating the tile information between zoom levels). In addition,some embodiments use different sets of map tiles for differentconstructs displayed in the map. For example, some embodiments usestandard map tiles that contain information about most of the mapinformation, and use building map tiles that contain buildinginformation, which may be used to display building outlines in 2D modeand to display 3D building shapes in the 3D standard mode. For transitmode, some embodiments use the standard map tiles in addition toseparate transit map tiles, which contain information used by themapping application to render the transit constructs (e.g., transitlines, stations, etc.). In other embodiments, the transit constructs arecontained in the standard map tiles, and are emphasized more strongly intransit mode than in standard mode.

The map tiles, in some embodiments, represent portions of a map at,e.g., a particular zoom level. In some embodiments, the map tiles arevector-based map tiles, encoded using vector graphics (e.g., ScalableVector Graphics (.svg) or a Drawing file (.drw)). The vector graphicsidentify map construct polygons and provide the location for theseconstructs in the map region, etc. For example, transit tiles (orstandard map tiles that contain transit information) may contain aseries of coordinates through which a particular transit line runs, ormay define the line in terms of other constructs (e.g., defining a busline in terms of the roads that it travels along). The transit stationsmay be defined as polygons in some embodiments. In addition, some maptiles (e.g., the tiles for satellite or flyover mode) may beraster-based map tiles (e.g., encoded using any number of standarddigital image representations, such as Bitmap (.bmp), GraphicsInterchange Format(.gif), Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpg, .jpeg,etc.), Portable Networks Graphic (.png), or Tagged Image File Format(.tiff). Some embodiments also include tiles with a combination ofvector and raster data.

In some embodiments, the mapping application retrieves the map tilesfrom a cache on the device when possible. If the needed map tiles arenot available, however, the mapping application sends a request to aserver-based mapping service for the particular tiles needed (accordingto a list or other data structure stored by the mapping application thatidentifies the tiles required for any map region at each zoom level). Insome embodiments, in order to better handle rapid changes in zoom leveland map region, the application requests additional tiles from themapping service, for other zoom levels of the current map region as wellas nearby map regions at the current and other zoom levels.

The process 700 then retrieves (at 715) stylesheet data for mapconstructs at the particular zoom level and mode of the map region. Insome embodiments, the stylesheet data is stored with the mappingapplication, with updated stylesheet information downloaded from themapping service as necessary. However, as the stylesheets take up arelatively smaller amount of storage as compared to the map tiles, theycan be permanently stored on the device, rather than regularly emptiedfrom a cache. The stylesheets, in some embodiments, specify theappearance of various constructs (e.g., buildings, streets, land cover,labels, shadows, transit lines, transit stations, etc.) defined in themap tiles in different modes of the mapping application (and atdifferent zoom levels). For example, the stylesheets may specify thedifferent textures to apply to the constructs in standard and transitmodes, the color of the textures, etc.

Finally, the process renders (at 720) the map constructs defined in themap tiles according to the stylesheet data. The map rendering of someembodiments is described further by reference to FIG. 8 below. In someembodiments, the application builds a mesh using the map tiles andtextures the polygons of the mesh using stylesheet data for theparticular mode and zoom level. For example, the standard map constructs(roads, parks, etc.) have different styles defined for transit mode thanfor standard mode in order to de-emphasize these constructs in thetransit mode of some embodiments.

FIG. 8 conceptually illustrates a processing pipeline 800 of the mappingapplication of some embodiments for rendering a map display 860 based ondifferent map tiles 840-850 and stylesheets 855 according to aparticular mode of the map application. As shown, the processingpipeline 800 includes a map rendering engine 810, a virtual cameramodule 820, a mesh builder 830, a tile processor 870, three differentmap tile storages 840-850, a stylesheet storage 855, and a mode selector880.

In some embodiments, the transit tiles storage 840 stores transit maptiles for rendering various map constructs in transit mode, and thestandard tiles storage 845 stores most of the map information. Thebuilding tiles storage 850 of some embodiments stores 2D and 3D maptiles (also referring to as building tiles) for use in displayingbuildings in certain map regions. While shown as separate sets of tilesin this figure, in some embodiments the transit constructs are actuallystored in the standard map tiles, and there are no separate transit maptiles. The stylesheets storage 855 stores definitions for rendering mapconstructs at different zoom levels and in different modes (e.g.,standard mode, transit mode, etc.). One of ordinary skill in the artwill recognize that these storages are merely representative of themanners in which the rendering pipeline could retrieve the needed tiles.In some embodiments, the application first checks a cache, and if thetiles are not in the cache then sends a request to a mapping service forthe needed tiles (e.g., according to a list of tiles indexed by mapregion and zoom level).

The virtual camera 820 identifies a location and orientation (e.g.,perspective position, zoom level, etc.) from which to view a 2D or 3Dmap. The virtual camera 820 sends the field of view of the map (alsoreferred to as a viewing frustum) to the tile processor 870 forprocessing. In the 2D transit mode shown in the above figures, thevirtual camera 820 identifies the boundaries of the map region that willbe displayed.

The tile processor 870 receives fields of view for map displays from thevirtual camera 820. In some embodiments, the tile processor 870 performsany necessary culling of the map view before sending the mesh builder830 “empty” virtual map tiles. The tile processor 870 of someembodiments also receives “built” virtual map tiles from the meshbuilder 830 (in response to sending the empty virtual map tiles to themesh builder) and sends them to the map rendering engine 810 forrendering.

The mesh builder 830 of some embodiments prepares virtual map tiles fortile processor 870. The mesh builder 830 receives the current mode ofthe mapping application (e.g., standard mode, transit mode, flyovermode, hybrid mode, etc.) from a mode selector 880. The mesh builder 830then requests map tiles from the map tile storages 840-850 based on theviewing mode received from the mode selector 880 and the particular zoomlevel of the identified location (identified by the field of view in thevirtual map tiles). For instance, the mesh builder 830 of someembodiments requests transit map tiles and standard map tiles when intransit mode, but standard map tiles and building tiles when in standardmode. In some embodiments, the mesh builder 830 also uses building tilesin transit mode. In addition, some embodiments also include navigationtiles for displaying a more immersive presentation when in a drivingnavigation mode. In addition, as mentioned above, in some embodimentsthe transit map constructs are actually contained in the standard maptiles, and there are no separate transit map tiles.

Also, the mesh builder 830 receives stylesheet data from the stylesheetstorage 855. The stylesheets, in some embodiments, specify theappearance of various constructs (e.g., buildings, streets, land cover,labels, shadows, transit lines, transit stations, etc.) defined in themap tiles in different modes of the mapping application (and atdifferent zoom levels). For example, the stylesheets may specify thedifferent textures to apply to the constructs in standard and transitmodes, the color of the textures, etc.

Once the mesh builder 830 receives the map tiles and stylesheet data,the mesh builder 830 builds a polygon mesh using vector data stored inthe tiles. The mesh builder 830 specifies the appearance of mapconstructs in the mesh based on the stylesheet data retrieved from thestylesheet storage 855 according to the map display mode. In someembodiments, the mesh builder 830 builds the polygon mesh on a virtualtile-by-tile basis and sends the virtual map tiles, which, in someembodiments, are a polygon mesh version of the virtual map tiles themesh builder 830 received from by the tile processor 870. To build themesh, the mesh builder 830 of some embodiments generates a mesh ofvertices according to the vector data in the received map tiles (thestandard, transit, and/or building tiles), generates triangles from themesh to simplify rendering, adds shadows to the mesh (e.g., by labelingvertices and/or polygons), and applies texture information to the mesh.

In some embodiments, the texture information may be determined based onthe stylesheet data 855. Furthermore, some embodiments also use thisstylesheet data 855 to determine the shadow, triangulation, and or meshconstruction data. Using stylesheet-driven rendering enables simplemodification to many aspects of the map output, because changes to atexture, color, etc. can be made through a minor modification of astylesheet. This facilitates the use of different textures for certaintypes of objects at different zoom levels, map display modes, orgeographic regions. For instance, when viewed at a low zoom level (lessdetail), some embodiments might color a park a simple light green. Onthe other hand, as the user zooms in to a higher zoom level (moredetail), the stylesheets indicate to apply a pattern (e.g., a foliagepattern) to the park region. This also enables the same standard maptiles to be used for standard map view and transit map view. Instead ofneeding to download new tiles, the mapping application applies differenttextures to the roads, parks, places of interest, etc. in the transitmode (i.e., using a lighter texture for land cover in transit mode, andusing a lighter texture and smaller mesh for roads in transit mode).This information can be coded into a stylesheet and then the meshbuilder simply adds the appropriate texture information to a tile meshbased on the mode and/or zoom level of the tile.

The map rendering engine 810 is responsible for generating a drawing(e.g., a map view of a map) to output to a display device based on thefield of view received from the virtual camera 820. Additional detailsof the mesh builder 830, the virtual camera 820, the tile processor 870,and the map rendering engine 810 are described in further detail in U.S.Patent Publication 2013/0322702, which is incorporated herein byreference.

An example operation of the processing pipeline 800 will now bedescribed. The virtual camera 820 identifies a location and orientationfrom which the virtual camera 820 views a map. The virtual camera 820sends to the tile processor 870 a field of view of the map based on theidentified location and orientation, which includes the zoom level.

When the tile processor 870 receives the field of view, the tileprocessor 870 of some embodiments culls the field of view. The tileprocessor 870 then sends empty virtual map tiles (i.e., virtual maptiles that indicate the required field of view but do not have meshinformation) to the mesh builder 830 for processing. The tile process870 also receives information indicating the current mode of the mappingapplication (e.g., standard mode, transit mode, etc.).

When the mapping application generates map views in transit mode, themesh builder 830 retrieves transit tiles from the transit tiles storage840 and standard map tiles from the standard tiles storage 845, based onthe zoom level of the identified location. As mentioned, in someembodiments different sets of map tiles are used by the processingpipeline 800 for rendering map views in these different viewing modes.The transit, standard, and other map tiles are cached for a period oftime in some embodiments, and if the needed tiles are not present in thecache, the application retrieves the map tiles from the mapping service.

Once the mesh builder 830 has all the appropriate map tiles andstylesheet data, the mesh builder 830 builds a polygon mesh based onvector data in the map tiles. The mesh builder 830 then specifies theappearance of map constructs of the polygon mesh based on the stylesheetdata, according to the current mode and zoom level of the map view. Themesh builder 830 then sends the built virtual map tiles to the tileprocessor 870.

When the tile processor 870 receives the virtual map tiles from the meshbuilder 830, the tile processor 870 sends them to the map renderingengine 810 for rendering. The map rendering engine 810 receives thevirtual map tiles from the tile processor 870 and renders a map view 860based on the virtual map tiles. In some embodiments, the renderingengine 810 also uses stylesheet data to perform its rendering, asdescribed in the above-incorporated U.S. Patent Publication2013/0322702.

C. Transit Line Characteristics

One of the primary features of transit mode is the transit lines showingvarious transit routes. As indicated above by reference to FIG. 2, as auser zooms in on the map in transit mode, more and more transit linesare displayed with increasing levels of detail. FIG. 9 illustratesvarious characteristics of different types of transit lines in thetransit browsing mode of some embodiments. Specifically, FIG. 9illustrates a transit mode map display 900 that shows a portion of thetransit system in San Francisco, Calif. Here, each colored line in themap display 900 represents at least one transit route. In someembodiments, the color of the transit line corresponds to a color that atransit system provider uses to designate the transit line (e.g., inschedules provided by the system provider, on the transit vehicles, instations, etc.). These transit line colors may be the exact color usedby the transit providers, or a similar color (e.g., a different shade ofthe same basic color) to those used.

As shown in map display 900, various types of transit lines aredisplayed in the transit browsing mode. For instance, the map display900 displays several rail lines 910 that are each designated as aseparate color to indicate which rail routes or providers serviceparticular areas. Also, to further distinguish between rail lines 910,badged line shields are placed on some of the rail lines to identify theparticular rail route represented by the corresponding line. Inaddition, cable car lines 915 are also displayed as thin orange lines,and ferry lines 917 are displayed as a brighter blue over the dimmedblue of the body of water through which the ferry travels. Theabove-mentioned examples are only a subset of the various types oftransit lines that may be displayed by the mapping application, as someembodiments may display any other type of transit line, includingtramways, high-speed rail, etc., using different lines and colors. Someembodiments include bus lines representing different bus routes as thinlines overlaid on the streets of the city on which the buses travel

Certain features of the transit routes may cause their transit lines tobe displayed in a particular manner as well. For instance, grouped raillines 920 that run alongside each other (or, in some cases, over thesame set of tracks) are displayed in parallel, as the lines displayed onthe map to correspond to the actual geography of the transit lines(rather than drawn as straight lines between stops). These grouped setsof rail lines may be operated by a single provider (e.g., BART in thiscase) or by several different providers (e.g., NJ Transit and Amtrakparalleling each other for large stretches in New Jersey, or BART andMUNI in this example). In some embodiments, a set of transit lines thatrun parallel to each other will be drawn as such, even if the lines donot all stop at the same set of stations. For example, even if the greenline of the set of grouped BART rail lines 920 only had stops at 16^(th)Street and Embarcadero, because the actual rail lines follow the samepath as the other lines (the blue, yellow, and red lines), the greenline is displayed parallel to the other lines on the map display ratherthan as a straight line between these stations. For parallel sets oftransit lines with curves in multiple directions, the use of actualtrack location data prevents lines that should be parallel fromcrisscrossing each other as would be the case with station-to-stationdata.

In addition, the map application in transit mode may display transittrunk lines that service at least two transit routes that may branch offto separate lines. For example, the map display 900 includes a transittrunk line 925 for the transit system provider colloquially known as“Muni” (operated by the SF Municipal Transportation Agency). In someembodiments, each of the transit routes represented by the trunk line925 are identified by the transit line shields 940 that are displayed onthe trunk line 925. In some embodiments, these shields are sortednumerically, alphabetically, or using another common sorting technique(in this case, the shields 940 are sorted alphabetically). As shown inthe map display, the transit trunk line branches off in the southwestinto multiple separate transit lines that represent the different railroutes of the Muni system. For example, the transit trunk line 925branches off to rail line 930 that represents the transit route “N”(while the lines continue on), as well as other lines. The transit trunklines are discussed further below by reference to FIG. 10.

As described above by reference to FIGS. 2A-2B, many features aredisplayed along the transit vehicle routes. Stops or stations 945 alonga transit line are displayed as pills and transfer stations 950 alongthe transit vehicle route are displayed as white colored pills. Eachtransfer station identifies a location at which a user may change fromone transit vehicle route to another. In some embodiments, the size ofthe white colored pill corresponds to the number of different transitvehicle routes that converge at that particular location, at least incertain zoom levels. For stations of the more prominent transitservices, some embodiments display the logo of the transit provider onthe transit station pills. In some embodiments, the name of the transitprovider is displayed along the transit line (e.g., the Caltrainindicator 955).

In addition, each type of rail line (e.g., bus, light rail, etc.) mayhave varying appearances based on the frequency with which transitvehicles operate on the particular line, or a different importancemetric. Specifically, in some embodiments darker and/or thicker linesare used to represent higher-frequency lines. Thus, for example, theMUNI trunk line 925 is a thicker, darker pink than the F line (notlabeled) running directly alongside it. Similarly, the cable car lines915 are narrower and less bright. Other importance metrics indicated bythe color of the transit lines in some embodiments may include thenumber of travelers of the particular transit line, etc.

As mentioned, FIG. 10 illustrates an example of a trunk rail line thatbranches off to several separate rail lines. As shown, the blue trunkrail line 1000 is drawn as thicker and darker than the separate lines1010 (i.e., A, D, G, S, and T) that branch off of this route. In someembodiments, such a line is used for a single transit line off of whichseveral lines split (e.g., as shown in this example). Alternatively orconjunctively, a thicker line may be used when multiple lines of thesame transit service follow the same path (e.g., the same rail line fora subway or light rail, the same streets for a bus line), but the lineis not prominent enough in the map display to display multiple parallellines. For instance, the Muni lines J, K, L, M, N, and T groupedtogether in FIG. 9 is an example of such a grouped trunk line, with allof the lines that split off drawn in the same color. In someembodiments, the color of rail lines are the same as the trunk rail linethey branch from in order to indicate that these lines are operated bythe same transit service provider.

In some cases, when a rail line branches off of a trunk transit line,the branched transit line itself may also be a trunk line off of whichseveral individual transit lines branch. In this case, some embodimentscontinue to display the partial trunk line in the thicker, darker styleof the larger trunk line, while other embodiments introduce degrees ofthickness, brightness, and/or darkness to indicate relative branching.In some embodiments, all of the lines of such a system with multiplelevels of branching are displayed using the same general color.

As described above, some embodiments display the transit lines along theactual physical path of the transit line, rather than as straight linesbetween stations. To display the transit lines as such, some embodimentsuse map tiles that describe the transit lines in terms of closely-spacedvertices (e.g., every 10 ft., every 50 ft., etc.). This data enables themapping application to provide an accurate representation of the transitlines. This feature is illustrated in the case of a transit line thatruns along or within a curved road. In some embodiments, the mappingapplication also snaps the transit line to a path along the road. Insome embodiments, the mapping application receives separate map tiles(e.g., from a mapping service) for the transit data and for the rest ofthe map data, and snapping the transit line to the road ensures that thetransit line lines up with the rest of the map.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example of a colored rail line in transitbrowsing mode that directly snaps on the actual railway trackrepresented in standard mode. Specifically, FIG. 11 illustrates twostages 1110 and 1115 that show a map region 1100, which includes a railline, in standard map browsing mode and transit mode. As shown in thefirst stage 1110, the map region 1100 includes a section of the I-580freeway 1120 near Hayward, Calif. The first stage 1110 also shows azoomed-in portion 1112 of the map region 1100 in the standard mode ofthe integrated mapping application. As illustrated by the zoomed-inportion, a separation exists between the two roads of the I-580 freeway1120 (one of which is for westbound traffic and the other of which isfor eastbound traffic), and within that separation is a representationof a railway track (shown as a gray line in the standard map browsingmode). This corresponds to an actual railway track that it represents,which runs between the two carriageways of this freeway.

The second stage 1115 shows the same map region 1100 in the transitbrowsing mode of the mapping application of some embodiments (e.g.,after a user has switched between the modes). As shown, when displayedin transit mode, a blue colored rail line 1130 is displayed on top ofthe representation of the actual railway track 1125. In addition, a linelabel 1135 indicates that the blue colored rail line 1130 represents aBART transit route. The placement of the rail line 1130 over the railwaytrack 1125 allows the user to have a more accurate understanding of (i)where the rail line travels and (ii) if traveling along the rail line,the location of the user in relation to her destination.

The transit mode of some embodiments also displays various transitincidents, that affect the operation of transit routes, in the mapdisplay. These incidents may include line construction, accidents,station incidents, or other incidents that affect the operation of arail line. In addition, traffic, accidents, or construction on standardroads may affect the operation of bus lines, and some embodiments,display such incidents as well.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example of a map display 1200 of some embodimentsthat graphically indicates incidents along transit routes in a mapregion. For instance, the map region 1200 displays a generic incidentbadge 1205 at a particular location along a transit route in order toindicate that there is an issue with the transit route at the particularlocation. In some embodiments, a selection of the incident badge (e.g.,with a tap gesture over the screen location of the badge 1205) causesthe map application to display information about the incident (e.g., thetype of incident, its affect on the transit route, etc.).

Some embodiments also include incident badges that indicate specifictypes of activities along a transit route. For instance, the map display1200 includes construction incident badges 1210 to indicate thatconstruction is occurring along the respective transit routes over whichthey appear. In some embodiments, the construction incident badges mayindicate construction on the transit route itself (e.g., railwayconstruction) or construction near the transit route (e.g., stationconstruction or road construction along a bus line). In addition toconstruction incident badges, some embodiments include badges for othertypes of specific incidents, such as accidents, station closures, etc.As with the general incident badges, the specific incident badges ofsome embodiments are selectable to view additional information about theincident.

The mapping application of some embodiments also uses various graphicindicators to indicate to the user the condition of transit routes. Inthis example, the mapping application displays a dotted section of railline 1215 along with two construction incident badges 1210 at either endof the dotted section. This indicates that this portion of the transitline is under construction or is being serviced. Different embodimentsmay use the dotted transit lines to indicate that the transit route isnot operating or is operating at less than full capacity (e.g., fewertransit vehicles are servicing the route, the transit vehicles areoperating slower than usual through the section of the route, etc.).

D. Temporally Changing Transit Information

Many transit systems do not operate on a 24-hour basis and even thosethat do may have certain lines and/or stations that are closed for partof the day (usually at night and in the early morning). Thus, atdifferent times of day, certain transit lines may not be operative andcertain transit stations may be closed. The mapping application of someembodiments indicates this by dynamically modifying the display oftransit lines and transit stations when those transit entities areclosed. In some embodiments, the transit map data received by themapping application from a mapping service includes schedule data foreach of the transit lines and transit stations in a map tile. Using thisschedule data, the mapping application can determine whether to displaya particular line or station as closed based on the current timeaccording to the device clock, thus accurately representing the transitoptions currently available to the user of the device.

FIG. 13 illustrates the dynamic nature of transit lines and transitstations in the mapping application of some embodiments, with examplerail and bus lines and a transit station that are displayed differentlyat different times of day. Specifically, this figure illustrates amapping application GUI 1300 with a map display that includes severalrail lines 1321-1324, a bus line 1330, and a transit station 1320 atthree different stages 1305-1315 that each represent three differenttimes of day.

The first stage 1305 shows that the map region displayed in the mappingapplication GUI 1300 includes a green rail line 1324 for the transitroute “A”, which intersects a main transit station 1320. The applicationdisplays a badge 1325 for the main station 1320 that represents thetransit system provider of the transit route “A” (the “ATA” badge, fortransit provider ATA). In addition, several other rail routes intersectthe hallways of the transit station 1320—specifically, a red rail line1323, a purple rail line 1322, and a cyan rail line 1321, whichrepresent transit routes B, C, and D, respectively. In addition, themapping application GUI 1300 includes a bus line 1330 that runs on astreet near the transit station 1320. Along the bus line 1330, theapplication displays two bus stops 1335 at which buses along the busline 1330 stop. This bus line 1330 may represent a single bus route, ormultiple bus routes that use the particular street in some embodiments.

The first stage 1305 illustrates the map region at 6 PM, as shown by theclock to the left of the map display. At this time, all four rail lines1321-1324 and transit station 1320 are operational, as well as the busline 1330 and the two bus stops 1335. To indicate that these lines andstops are operating at the current time, the mapping applicationdisplays the four rail lines 1321-1324 as solid lines and the transitstation 1320 using its standard color for complex stations once zoomedin far enough to see the station details (a light salmon color here inthe illustrated example).

The second stage 1310 shows the mapping application GUI 1300 displayingthe same map region three hours later, at 9 PM. At this time, the raillines 1321 and 1323 (routes C and B, respectively) are no longeroperating (e.g., because the last train through this area was earlierthan 9 PM). As such, the mapping application displays the rail lines asdashed rather than solid lines, though keeping the line color. As theother two rail lines 1322 and 1324 (routes A and D) as well as the busline 1330 are still operational at this time, the application displaysthem as solid lines. In some embodiments, if the user were to request atransit route, the application would only offer routes using currentlyoperating transit routes, and thus would exclude routes B and C.

The third stage 1315 shows the same map region in the mappingapplication GUI 1300 after three more hours have passed, at midnight. Bythis time, all of the four rail routes represented by the lines1321-1324 are closed, and thus all of these the application displays allof these lines as dashed. Furthermore, the transit station 1320 isclosed at midnight, and thus the application uses a different appearanceto display the station as compared to when the station was open. In thiscase, the application displays the station using cross-hatching, thoughother embodiments may lighten the station display or use a differentmechanism to indicate that the station is not currently open.Furthermore, the bus stops 1335 are not displayed along the bus line1330, because these stops are closed late at night. Instead, theapplication displays a bus stop 1340 at a different location along thebus line, which buses use at this hour. Some embodiments, as shown here,only display the bus stops that are currently operational; otherembodiments, however, would display all three bus stops along the map atall times, but differentiate the appearance of the stops that areoperating and those that are not operating at any given time.

While in this example the mapping application displays non-operationaltransit routes using a dashed line and closed stations using a differentappearance, different embodiments may use different or additionaltechniques to differentiate between operational and non-operationalroutes. For instance, some embodiments display labels over or nearclosed transit lines, at least at higher zoom levels where more room isavailable. In other embodiments, the application either does not displayclosed transit lines or prefers open transit lines to closed transitlines at a given zoom level. Some embodiments that display multipletransit lines as separate lines when the lines are operational insteaddisplay the lines as a single line if all of the lines arenon-operational. In the case where multiple transit routes are groupedinto a single line even when operational, some embodiments display solidbadges for operational routes and transparent or hatched badges fornon-operational routes when only a subset of the routes are operating.

E. Selection of Transit Lines and Stations

In some embodiments, the transit lines and stations emphasized in themap region in the mapping application's transit mode are selectable. Insome embodiments, selecting a particular transit line (e.g., through atap gesture or other selection action) causes the mapping application toemphasize the transit line (by modifying either the selected line, thenon-selected lines, or a combination thereof) and/or to displayinformation about the selected transit line. For instance, someembodiments desaturate the non-selected transit lines, and some suchembodiments display the selected transit line with additionalsaturation.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of the selection of a transit line for asingle transit route over two stages 1405-1410 of the mappingapplication GUI 1400 of some embodiments. The first stage 1405 displaysthe mapping application GUI 1400 in transit mode, showing a map regionwith a section of New York city and its surrounding areas. The mapdisplays numerous transit lines of various colors, including the subwayline “G” 1415 displayed using the color green. At this stage, the userselects the green G line 1415 by performing a tap gesture. As shownhere, in some embodiments the user can select a transit line by tapping(or performing a different selection gesture) anywhere on the line,while other embodiments require the user to select a badge representingthe transit route in order to select a transit line.

The second stage 1410 illustrates the same map region in the GUI 1400after the selection of the green G line 1415. In particular, uponselection of the green transit line 1415, the mapping applicationreduces the color saturation of the rest of the map outside of theselected transit line. This includes desaturation of both thealready-deemphasized non-transit map constructs (e.g., the river, parks,place of interest labels, etc.) as well as the non-selected transitlines (i.e., all of the transit lines other than the selected greensubway line 1415). In some embodiments, the application applies anegative saturation filter to the map, then displays the selectedtransit line above this saturation filter. In addition, the applicationincreases the saturation and slightly thickens the selected line 1415,as well as increasing the size of the line shields 1420 (showing the“G”) and the transit stations along the line. Some embodiments, however,only deemphasize (by, e.g., desaturation) the rest of the map, while notactually modifying the selected line and its associated constructs.

Along with emphasizing features already displayed along the transitline, some embodiments display additional map features when a transitline is selected. For instance, upon selection of the green transit line1415, the mapping application displays a banner 1425 above the lineshield 1420. The banner 1425 displays information regarding the selectedtransit line, indicating the name of the transit line (“Subway G”). Someembodiments also include additional information such as the time therepresented transit route is operational, a depiction of a train toindicate the type of transit vehicles that operate on the route, orother information. In some embodiments, the transit line banners areselectable to display additional information about the line (e.g., moredetailed schedules with a list of stops/stations, reviews of the transitline or system, etc.).

While this example shows the selection of a transit line that representsa single transit route, some embodiments include selectable transitlines that represent multiple routes (e.g., the MUNI lines in the SanFrancisco map of FIG. 6). When a user selects such a grouped line, someembodiments display a single banner with information about each of theroutes (e.g., one above the other). Other embodiments display separatebanners for each of the routes, or allow the user to cycle throughbanners for the different routes.

In addition to the features shown in this example, some embodimentsdisplay additional information upon the selection of a transit line. Forexample, some embodiments display additional stations or stops along thetransit line that were not previously displayed, in some cases removingother transit stations (not along the selected line) or other mapconstructs in order to avoid clutter. Some embodiments may alsohighlight places of interest easily reachable or commonly traveled tovia the transit line, or transit stations nearby to the selected line.

As mentioned, transit stations may also be selected in some embodiments.Whereas selection of a single transit line causes the mappingapplication to highlight that line, in some embodiments when a userselects a transit station, both the station and all lines that intersectthat station are emphasized in the map display.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of the selection of a transit stationintersected by multiple transit routes over two stages 1505-1510 of themapping application GUI 1500 of some embodiments. The first stage 1505displays the same map region as in FIG. 14 (i.e., a section of the NewYork City region), with numerous transit lines of various colors.Included in this section is the Fresh Pond Rd. station 1520, which isnot currently labeled, and which serves as a stop for the M subway line1501. In this first stage, the user selects the station 1520 (e.g., witha tap input, as shown in the figure).

The second stage 1510 illustrates the same map region in the GUI 1500after the selection of the Fresh Pond Rd. transit station 1520. Inparticular, upon selection of the transit station 1520, the mappingapplication reduces the color saturation of most of the map, exceptingthe selected transit station and the orange transit line that intersectsthat transit station. As in the previous figure, this includesdesaturation of both the already-deemphasized non-transit map constructs(e.g., the river, parks, place of interest labels, etc.) as well as thenon-selected transit lines (i.e., all of the transit lines other thanthe line 1501 that stops at the selected transit station). In addition,the application increases saturation and thickness of the line 1501, aswell as increasing the size of the line shields of the highlightedtransit lines.

In some embodiments, a selected transit station may have multipletransit routes that stop at the station (e.g., the stations representedby white pills). In this case, selection of the station in someembodiments results in multiple selected transit lines, all of which areemphasized in the resulting map display. In addition, if the station isconnected (e.g., by underground or above-ground passageways, as part ofa single building or complex, etc.) to nearby stations, some embodimentsalso emphasize these stations as well as the lines that intersect thenearby stations.

Along with emphasizing the selected features of the transit station andits associated transit line or lines, some embodiments displayadditional map features when a transit station is selected. Forinstance, upon selection of the Fresh Pond Rd. station, the mappingapplication displays a banner 1535 above the station badge 1520. Thebanner 1535 displays information regarding the selected transit station,indicating the transit providers and their routes (i.e., M subway route)that stop at the selected station. In addition, the banner 1535 includesa depiction of a train to indicate the type of transit vehicles thatoperate at the station (transit hubs with multiple types of vehicles mayhave banners that display the most prominent vehicle type at thestation, or multiple icons for the different vehicle types). In someembodiments, the station banner is selectable to cause the applicationto provide a transit or walking navigation route to the station (e.g.,by selecting a particular portion of the banner). In addition, in someembodiments the banner is selectable (e.g., by selecting a differentportion of the banner) to cause the application to display a placecardfor the transit station. Such a placecard, in some embodiments, displaysinformation about the transit station, such as the hours it is open,reviews of the station, photos of the station, information about thedifferent transit routes that stop at the station, etc.

FIG. 16 conceptually illustrates a process 1600 of some embodiments forrendering a map region in order to emphasize a selected transit linewhile de-emphasizing non-selected transit lines. The process 1600 isperformed by the mapping application of some embodiments while operatingin transit mode. In transit mode, as shown in FIG. 1 and describedabove, the mapping application emphasizes transit-related constructs,such as transit lines and stations.

As shown, the process begins by receiving (at 1605) a selection of aparticular transit construct while displaying a map region in transitmode. In some embodiments, the selection is a gestural input from a user(e.g., a tap gesture) through a touch-sensitive display screen of thedevice that executes the mapping application. In other embodiments, theselection may be through a different type of input device (e.g., acursor controller, a keyboard, etc.). In order to select a transit line,in some embodiments the selection must be received over a transit lineshield displayed along the line, while in other embodiments the user mayselect anywhere along the line. In some embodiments, as shown above,users may also select a transit station, which can result in theselection of multiple lines. In some embodiments, when the selection isreceived as a tap gesture through a touchscreen, the device (e.g., the atouch gesture resolution framework of the operating system) resolves thetap gesture to a set of coordinates of the display screen based on thelocations at which the tap gesture was received. The mapping applicationthen uses this location to determine which line or station the user hasselected based on to which transit construct (or other map construct)the user input is closest.

Upon receiving the selection, the process 1600 identifies (at 1610) theselected and non-selected transit constructs in the map region. When theuser selects a single transit line, some embodiments also treat thetransit stations/stops intersected by the line as selected as well. Inthat case, all of the other transit lines are non-selected, as well asthe transit stations that the selected line does not intersect. Inaddition, when the user selects a transit station, some embodimentstreat that station as well as any stations connected to the station asselected, in addition to all of the transit lines that run through thatstation (and its connected stations). Some embodiments also treat thestations along those selected lines as selected.

The process 1600 then renders (at 1620) the map region so as tohighlight the selected transit constructs and de-emphasize non-selectedtransit constructs. In some embodiments, in order to highlight aselected transit line, the mapping application increases the width ofthe selected line and/or increases the color saturation of the selectedline. On the other hand, the non-selected transit lines arede-emphasized by the mapping application, by displaying these lines withreduced color saturation and/or width. In addition, the selected transitstation and/or transit stations along a selected line may be increasedin size (especially those stations represented by a simple unlabeledpill rather than a transit system badge). Transit stations along asingle transit line (that share the line color) may be increased in sizeand color saturation in correspondence with their transit line.

F. Display of Road Labels

In some embodiments, the mapping application displays road labels intransit mode using similar techniques as to those used to displaytraffic information in the standard mode. Specifically, in the standardmode of some embodiments the application displays road labels on theroad when there is no traffic information for the road, but above theroad when there is traffic information displayed on the road. Similarly,in the transit mode of some embodiments the application displays theroad labels on the road for roads that do not have transit lines, butabove the road for roads on which transit lines are displayed.

FIG. 17 illustrates three different examples 1705-1715 of the same mapregion (a portion of San Francisco) displayed in the mapping applicationGUI 1700 of some embodiments. Specifically, the first example 1705illustrates the map region in standard mode without traffic, the secondexample 1710 illustrates the map region in standard mode whiledisplaying traffic information, and the third example 1715 illustratesthe map region in transit mode. Each of these examples show the roadlabel for “Market St.” displayed differently.

The first example 1705 shows the mapping application GUI 1700 instandard mode without traffic indicators. This could be due to the userhaving set the application to not display any traffic information, orbecause there is no traffic in the area displayed in the map region. Asshown in this example, the road label 1701 for “The Embarcadero” isoverlaid on the road 1720 (the road that the label identifies), as isthe road label 1702 for “Bay St.”

The second example 1710 shows the mapping application GUI 1700 instandard mode, but with traffic indicators turned on (and with trafficinformation to display in the map region). In this example, the label1703 for “Market St.” is overlaid on the map just above the road 1720(running along the road), so that it is easily readable with the trafficinformation displayed on the road. However, as there is no trafficinformation for Bay St., the label 1702 is unchanged (still displayed onthe road).

The third example 1715 shows the mapping application GUI 1700 in transitmode, rather than standard mode. As can be seen, the map region isdisplayed using the characteristics described above, with thenon-transit roads, bay, land cover, etc. de-emphasized in favor of thetransit lines and stations. In the transit mode, a transit line 1730(for a MUNI transit route) with several stations 1735 is overlaid alongthe road 1720. Thus, as with the traffic indicators, the applicationdisplays the road label 1704 for “Market St.” overlaid on the map justabove the road, similar to how the road label 1703 is displayed in thesecond example 1710. In this case, the stylings of the labels in transitmode are used, rather than the stylings for standard mode. In someembodiments, the application displays the labels on the road even whentransit lines are present, so long as the label does not obscure anystations or stops.

FIG. 18 conceptually illustrates a process 1800 of some embodiments fordisplaying road labels in the transit mode of some embodiments. In someembodiments, the process 1800 is performed by a mapping applicationoperating on a device to display map information for a user in transitmode. The device may be a mobile device (e.g., a touchscreen mobiledevice such as a smart phone or tablet), a desktop or laptop computer,or other device on which a mapping application operates.

As shown, the process begins by receiving (at 1805) road data for a mapregion to be displayed in transit mode. As described above by referenceto FIG. 8, in some embodiments the mapping application receives the roaddata as vectorized information within map tiles for the region. The roaddata of some embodiments includes path information for the road (e.g.,as a set of coordinates) as well as road name information. In addition,some embodiments receive transit data (either as part of the same maptiles or in separate map tiles) that specifies where to display transitlines on the map, either as a set of coordinates or by reference toroads along which the transit routes travel.

The process then identifies (at 1810) the roads to label in transitmode. As shown in the above figure, some embodiments label (and display)more of the roads in standard mode than in transit mode, in addition toemphasizing the roads more in the standard mode. Thus, for the currentzoom level of the map, the application determines which roads shouldhave labels displayed, which may be based on the relative importance ofthe roads, how cluttered the map display is, and other factors. Someembodiments only display labels for roads that have transit lines whenin transit mode. The process next selects (at 1815) one of the roadsthat will be labeled. Though this figure shows the process as loopingover each road, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatthis is a conceptual process, and some embodiments perform theoperations for several roads in parallel.

For the selected road, the process 1800 determines (at 1820) whether atransit line is displayed along the current road, and whether any stopsneed to be displayed in the location at which the road label will bedisplayed. In some embodiments, this entails determining whether aportion of the road can be identified over which the label can be drawnwithout obscuring any stations or stops along the transit line thatfollows the road. For example, some embodiments optimally find alocation at which the road does not have a transit line overlaid, whileother embodiments prefer to display the road label over or along thetransit line (so that the label can be easily linked by the user to thetransit line). If the road label can only be displayed along a transitline, some embodiments determine whether a long enough portion of thetransit line does not have any stops such that the road label can bedisplayed between the stops.

When a space exists for the road label such that the label will notobscure any stops, the process places (at 1825) the label on the road(e.g., as shown for Columbus Ave. in example 1715 of FIG. 17). On theother hand, when no such space exists for the road label, the processplaces (at 1830) the label along the side of the selected road (e.g., asshown for The Embarcadero in the example 1715 of FIG. 17). The processthen determines (at 1835) whether any roads remain to be labeled. Ifmore roads remain, the process returns to 1815 to select the next road.Once all the roads are labeled, however, the process ends.

II. Map Display in Transit Navigation

As mentioned above, the standard mode of the integrated mappingapplication of some embodiments enables a user to search for aparticular location and routes the user to that location through anavigation mode of the application. In some embodiments, the user caninitiate navigation for different types of routes, including driving,walking, and transit routes. When a user enters navigation from thestandard mode, some embodiments default to a driving route except forvery short distances in which case walking is the default. However,users have the option to select a transit route in some embodiments,even when entering navigation mode from the standard mapping mode. Whenentering navigation from the transit mode of some embodiments, theapplication automatically defaults to a transit route to the location,except for very short distances where walking is the default.

When the user requests a transit route, in some embodiments theapplication provides the user with one or more options of routes to therequested destination that use a combination of transit portions andwalking portions (e.g., between transit portions). For instance, unlessthe user starts the route while at a transit stop, the user will have towalk to the first transit portion (also referred to as a “leg” of theroute), in addition to walking between portions and walking from thelast portion to the eventual destination. Once the user selects one ofthe routes for navigation, in some embodiments the application providesthe user with directions for each leg of the navigated route.

A. Initiating Transit Navigation

As mentioned, the mapping application may enter the transit navigationmode from either the standard map browsing mode or the transit mapbrowsing mode described above in Section I. FIG. 19 illustrates anexample of a user searching for a destination in transit mode andinitiating a transit route to the destination over three stages1905-1915 of a mapping application GUI 1900 of some embodiments.

The first stage 1905 shows the mapping application GUI 1900 in transitmode, after a user has searched for a particular address in New YorkCity. Specifically, the application displays a map region showingportions of Manhattan and Brooklyn, in addition to various userinterface constructs. The application GUI 1900 includes a lower UI itembar 1920, that includes a UI item 1925 for centering the map on thedevice location and a UI item 1930 for causing the application todisplay a set of selectable options (e.g., the mode choices shown in thesecond stage 110 of FIG. 1). The GUI 1900 also includes a search barthrough which the user can enter a search term, such as an address,location name, etc. In this case, the user has entered an address “12310^(th) Street”. As a result, the application displays a pin 1940 at thelocation 123 A Street, as well as a banner 1945 for this location. Thebanner includes a selectable transit routing icon 1950, that depicts atrain. This icon is selectable to cause the application to display oneor more transit routes to the destination.

In the second stage 1910, the user selects the transit routing icon1950. As a result, in the third stage % 15 the mapping applicationdisplays a route from the current location of the device (Central Park,near the 59^(th) St./Columbus Circle subway station) to the selectedlocation. Because the application was in transit browsing mode, someembodiments automatically present a transit route, although as shown theuser can select driving or walking options as well. The lower section1955 of the GUI 1900 displays a route summary indicating that the userwill have to take two transit routes (the 1 Line and L line), both ofwhich are trains (as shown by the train indicators next to the linenumbers). This route summary area 1955 includes a selectable item 1960that causes the application display additional transit routes as well asa selectable item 1965 that causes the application to enter a transitnavigation mode. The transit navigation mode of some embodimentsdisplays panels for step-by-step navigation from the current location ofthe device to the destination of the route, instructing the user whichtransit vehicles to board, how to board them, when to exit the transitvehicles, and how to navigate between transit vehicles.

B. Transit Navigation Panels

FIGS. 20-22 illustrate transit navigation panels during the course of atransit route between Central Park near 59^(th) Street and 10^(th)Street in Brooklyn. FIG. 20 illustrates two successive stages 2005-2010during which the devices moves (presumably along with the user of thedevice) from the starting location of the route to the entrance of thefirst transit station along the route.

In the first stage 2005, the user has started navigation (by, e.g.,selecting the UI item 1965 shown in stage 1915 of the previous figure).As the first portion of the route involves walking to a subway station2030, the mapping application displays a suggested walking path towardsthe entrance to the station. As shown, some embodiments label thestation entrance 2025, so that the user knows the specific part of thestation to aim for, rather than simply walking towards the location ofthe station and then trying to find the entrance on their own(especially since the station is often underground). As described below,for stations with multiple entrances, some embodiments identify theoptimal entrance based on the user's location and/or the location withinthe transit station that the user will need to navigate to in order tocatch the next transit leg of the route. While the device position(shown by the circular position indicator 2035) is outside of athreshold distance from the transit station, the application displaysthe name of the transit station (59 St.-Columbus Cir. station).

As shown, in some embodiments, the application displays the walking path2015 as a grey, dashed line, while displaying the transit line(s) onroute as solid lines, using the same color assigned to the line in thetransit map browsing mode. The on-route transit line 2020 is shown inred, with a large red shield indicating the route the user is taking. Onthe other hand, off route transit lines, such as the line 2020, areshown as dimmed with smaller route shields. This allows the user toeasily differentiate the walking path from the transit lines, as well asthe on-route transit line from the other transit lines that may use thesame station. In this case, the 1 line that is on the route shares railtracks with the 2 and 3 line, as shown by the section of dimmed, graytransit line north of the station. However, for the portion south of thestation, the application displays only the 1 line shield, as this is thetransit route that the user will ride. In addition, the remainder of themap (e.g., other streets, the park, etc.) are dimmed in comparison tothe standard map browsing display.

In the second stage 2010, the user (and thus the device) has travelledalong the walking path to a location nearby to the station entrance2025, as shown by the location identifier 2035. At this point, theapplication displays instructions for entering the station and boardingthe upcoming transit leg. In addition, the map display is zoomed in tobetter highlight the layout of the station, allowing for easynavigation. Furthermore, in addition to the navigation banner 2040specifying to follow signs for the Downtown 1 train, the map displayhighlights the location of the proper boarding platform 2045, andspecifically labels the platform (“Downtown Platform” in addition to thestation name.

FIG. 21 illustrates a set of navigation panels and the corresponding mapdisplay as the user boards the 1 train and then subsequently rides thetrain along the transit leg, over three stages 2105-2115. As shown, inthe first stage 2105, the user has now entered the station and proceededto the appropriate subway platform, to catch the Downtown 1 train. Thus,the navigation banner provides instructions for the user to board thetrain. In addition, now that the device is located on the platform, thelocation indicator 2035 is aligned with the platform indicator, and theplatform/station label is shown as blue to match the device locationindicator.

The second stage 2110 illustrates the navigation display once the userhas boarded the transit vehicle for a transit leg, but before thetransit vehicle has started progressing along the route. As shown, theapplication zooms out the transit display to show the entirety of theactive leg in some embodiments, in addition to a portion of thesubsequent and/or previous legs (as those legs fit within the display).In this case, because the next leg (the L train towards Brooklyn) startsfrom the same station at which the user will exit the 1 train, a largeportion of the L train line is also shown. Both of these transit legsare shown using solid lines in their respective colors, drawn brighterand larger than the other transit lines that are faded into the mapbackground. To differentiate between the active leg and the inactive(past or future) legs of the route, the application of some embodimentslabels the stops of the active leg (i.e., 50 St., 42 St.-Times Sq., 34St.-Penn Sta., etc.), but only shows small circles without labels forthe stops of the inactive transit legs (i.e., the stops along the Lline). This information also aids the user in anticipating when the userwill need to exit the current transit line and transfer to the next leg.In some embodiments, if the user zooms in on the map near the inactiveroute leg, the application will display the stop/station labels for thatleg.

In the third stage, the train (carrying the user and the device) hasproceeded along the route to the 50^(th) St. station. Once the devicehas begun to travel along a transit leg of the route, the application ofsome embodiments modifies the display of (i) the active transit leg and(ii) the location indicator. As shown, the active transit leg isdisplayed so as to differentiate the traveled portion 2120 of the activeleg and the untraveled portion 2125 of the active leg. In this case, theapplication displays the traveled portion as a solid line (in the samemanner as before the user is traveling along the transit leg) whiledisplaying the untraveled portion as two parallel lines (i.e., the solidcolored line with a white line down the center).

For the location indicator 2130, some embodiments display an arrowindicating the current direction of travel. In addition, the applicationdisplays the current station name in differentiated text alongside thelocation indicator when the device is located within a station. In thiscase, the text for the current station (42 St.-Times Sq.) is displayedin slightly larger blue text, as compared to the black text used for theother stations. Some embodiments, when the device is above-ground (e.g.,for an above-ground rail, a bus line, etc.) move the location indicatorsmoothly along the transit route. However, for underground transitroutes, when GPS data is not available, some embodiments use SPI toidentify when the device passes through a station, and update thelocation indicator with each station passed.

FIG. 22 illustrates two navigation panels 2205 and 2210 and thecorresponding map display as the user first exits one transit leg andnavigates to the next transit leg, and then exits the last transit leg.In the first stage 2205, the user has exited the first train (the 1line) and, as shown by the position indicator 2035, is now in the 14 St.station. In addition, the position and station indicator notes that theuser is to perform a transfer from the 1 line to the L line. The mappingapplication also displays a station polygon 2215 for the 14 St. stationand a departure platform indicator (for the Brooklyn Platform of the 6Av. stop, which connects to the 14 St. stop) to enable the user toeasily navigate to the appropriate platform.

Subsequently, the user will walk through the station to the 6 Av.Brooklyn Platform, and board the L train to Brooklyn. During the courseof the transit leg along the L train, this will be the active leg, andthe application displays the gray L line in the same manner as shown forthe red 1 line in the previous FIG. 21. Finally, the second stage 2210illustrates the navigation display as the user and device arrive at theend of the last transit leg of the route, having disembarked the train.In this case, the navigation banner 2220 specifies for the user to exitthe station, following signs for a specific exit (Bedford Ave. & N7^(th) St. NE corner), as this exit will place the user in the optimallocation for the final walking portion of the route to the destination.In addition, the map display shows the station polygon 2225 for theBedford Ave. station, the current location of the user (havingdisembarked the train), and a the location of the exit for the user totake. In addition, the map display includes the initial portion of thewalking leg to the destination, again using a thick dashed grey line.Once the user exits the station and is walking along the route, someembodiments use a similar display to that shown in the first stage 2005of FIG. 20, with a generically-labeled exit and the entire walking routeto the destination shown. Some embodiments, at this point, switch fromthe transit navigation mode to a turn-by-turn walking navigation mode.

C. Transit Station Entrances

As shown above in FIG. 20, during a walking portion of a transit routethat ends in a transit station (as opposed to, e.g., a bus stop on astreet corner), some embodiments display a specific entrance to thetransit station in the map display portion of the navigation panel. Thiswalking portion may be the first portion of the overall transit route(to arrive at the first station), or may be an intermediate portion ofthe route between two stations. In either case, in some embodiments themapping service that provides the routes stores data about the differententrances for each transit station.

This enables the mapping service (e.g., a routing server of the mappingservice) to provide a route to a specific entrance based on acombination of at least (i) the current location of the user device and(ii) the destination within the transit station to catch the next leg ofthe transit route. As a result, some embodiments may direct the user totwo different entrances of the same station to catch the same transitvehicle (depending on the device's location) or to two differententrances of the same station from the same starting location (to boarddifferent transit vehicles in different portions of the station). Someembodiments may include other factors, such as the travel time (ifwalking travel times can be differentiated on factors other thandistance, such as stoplight presence or hills), or the presence ofobstacles (e.g., crossing above-ground railroad tracks, construction,etc.).

FIG. 23 illustrates two examples of the map display of some embodimentsthat show two walking directions to two different entrances of a transitstation 2325. In both examples the instructions are for entering thesame transit station, but the device starts from two different locationsin the two examples. In the first stage 2305 of the first example, theuser starts on Norfolk St., while in the first stage 2355 of the secondexample the user starts on Essex St.

In both examples, the user requires a route to the Essex St.-DelanceySt. station. However, the second stage 2310 of the first example 2300has a walking navigation path directing the user to enter the stationvia a first entrance 2330, whereas in the second stage 2360 of thesecond example the walking path directs the user to enter the stationvia a second entrance 2335. In some cases, even if a first entrance iscloser to a desired platform, the mapping service identifies that theuser can still enter the station through a second entrance and reach theplatform, and that this is easier than navigating to the first entrance.While this example shows the selection of an entrance for two differentstarting locations, similarly the mapping service may select twodifferent station exits based on two different destinations ordisembarking locations.

III. Using Locality-Specific Map Orientations

In the above examples, the mapping application displays the mapprimarily in a North-up orientation. In some embodiments, thisorientation is modifiable through user input (e.g., multi-touch gesturesthat involves placing two touch points over the map display and rotationthe touch points clockwise or counter-clockwise. Just as the user canperform such map manipulation in the standard map mode, some embodimentsallow similar manipulation in transit mode (in addition to otherbrowsing techniques, such as swipe gestures to pan the map).

In addition, certain locations may have standard viewing orientationsthat are not the typical North-up orientation. As an example, inManhattan, local maps tend to orient the island so that the Avenues allrun vertically and the Streets all run horizontally, such that the mapis about 29 degrees off of North (in fact, the local population tends totreat the Northeast direction of the Avenues as North within thelocality). Thus, some embodiments automatically display the map usingthis local orientation when (i) a certain locality with alocality-specific map orientation is shown in the map display and (ii)the map is displayed at certain zoom levels. For instance, at very lowzoom levels, where no street or local transit information is beingshown, some embodiments do not use the locality-specific maporientation, but use the locality-specific orientation once the map iszoomed in to focus more on the specific locality. Some embodiments usethis feature specifically in transit browsing mode.

In some embodiments, the mapping application automatically snaps the mapto a locality-specific orientation when the map is rotated near to thatorientation. FIG. 24 illustrates an example of such snapping over fourstages 2405-2420 of a mapping application GUI 2400 of some embodiments.The first stage 2405 illustrates a touchscreen display on which themapping application GUI 2400 is displayed, in transit browsing mode. Themapping application GUI 2400 currently displays a map of Manhattan, intransit browsing mode. For the sake of simplicity, the transit lines(e.g., subways, LIRR rails, etc.) are not displayed in this figure. TheGUI 2400 also includes a compass 2402 that indicates the map isdisplayed in the traditional North-up orientation

In the second stage 2410, the user begins to rotate the mapcounter-clockwise by use a touch gesture, placing two fingers over themap displaying the GUI 2400 and rotating the two fingers together. As aresult, the third stage 2415 illustrates that the map has rotatedcounterclockwise, with the compass 2402 indicating that the map is nolonger displayed in North-up orientation. In addition, at this stage theuser has removed the fingers, and is no longer rotating the map display.However, as illustrated, the mapping application continues to rotate themap display counterclockwise at this stage.

In some embodiments, once the map is rotated within a threshold (e.g.,an angular threshold) of the locality-specific orientation, theapplication automatically snaps the map display to the locality-specificorientation by rotating the map to that orientation. Thus, the fourthstage 2420 illustrates that the map display has been adjusted further tothe locality-specific orientation, as indicated by the compass 2402 andthat Manhattan Island is now oriented vertically (as indicated byCentral Park in the center of the island). While shown in transit mode,some embodiments also perform similar operations in standard mode orflyover/satellite mode.

In addition, some embodiments automatically display transit routes inthe locality-specific orientation, without any rotational input from theuser. FIG. 25 illustrates an example of the mapping applicationautomatically rotating the map display to a locality-specificorientation when displaying a transit route, over four stages 2505-2520of the mapping application GUI 2500 of some embodiments. As shown, thefirst stage 2505 illustrates a map of Manhattan in the standard mapbrowsing mode of some embodiments, oriented in the standard North-uporientation (as illustrated by the compass 2535). The GUI 2500 alsoincludes a location indicator 2525 that indicates the current positionof the device in the map, and a selectable routing item 2530, which theuser selects at this stage.

The second stage 2510 illustrates a directions input field, into whichthe user has input a request for directions to the address 529 East5^(th) Street. The user also selects the route item 2540, to instructthe mapping application provide one or more routes to the destination.Because the application is currently in standard browsing mode, thethird stage illustrates possible driving routes to the requesteddestination. However, the user might prefer to take public transit tothe destination. As such, in this stage, the user selects the transitrouting option 2545, one of three controls for requesting differenttypes of routes (driving, walking, and transit). These controls allowthe user to switch between different types of routes (i.e., differentrouting modes).

Lastly, the fourth stage 2520 illustrates that the mapping applicationnow displays a transit route in response to the user selection. In someembodiments, the application displays a single route 2550 from thecurrent location of the device to the requested destination. As shown,in some embodiments the application presents the transit route 2560using the locality-specific orientation, as shown by the compass 2535and the orientation of Manhattan perpendicular to the edges of the mapdisplay. In some embodiments, however, the application displays theroute in the current map orientation, but can be snapped to thelocality-specific orientation by user rotation of the map display.

IV. Electronic System

Many of the above-described features and applications are implemented assoftware processes that are specified as a set of instructions recordedon a computer readable storage medium (also referred to as computerreadable medium). When these instructions are executed by one or morecomputational or processing unit(s) (e.g., one or more processors, coresof processors, or other processing units), they cause the processingunit(s) to perform the actions indicated in the instructions. Examplesof computer readable media include, but are not limited to, CD-ROMs,flash drives, random access memory (RAM) chips, hard drives, erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EEPROMs), etc. The computer readablemedia does not include carrier waves and electronic signals passingwirelessly or over wired connections.

In this specification, the term “software” is meant to include firmwareresiding in read-only memory or applications stored in magnetic storagewhich can be read into memory for processing by a processor. Also, insome embodiments, multiple software inventions can be implemented assub-parts of a larger program while remaining distinct softwareinventions. In some embodiments, multiple software inventions can alsobe implemented as separate programs. Finally, any combination ofseparate programs that together implement a software invention describedhere is within the scope of the invention. In some embodiments, thesoftware programs, when installed to operate on one or more electronicsystems, define one or more specific machine implementations thatexecute and perform the operations of the software programs.

A. Mobile Device

The user data sharing of some embodiments occurs on mobile devices, suchas smart phones (e.g., iPhones®) and tablets (e.g., iPads®). FIG. 26 isan example of an architecture 2600 of such a mobile computing device. Asshown, the mobile computing device 2600 includes one or more processingunits 2605, a memory interface 2610 and a peripherals interface 2615.

The peripherals interface 2615 is coupled to various sensors andsubsystems, including a camera subsystem 2620, a wired communicationsubsystem(s) 2623, a wireless communication subsystem(s) 2625, an audiosubsystem 2630, an I/O subsystem 2635, etc. The peripherals interface2615 enables communication between the processing units 2605 and variousperipherals. For example, an orientation sensor 2645 (e.g., a gyroscope)and an acceleration sensor 2650 (e.g., an accelerometer) is coupled tothe peripherals interface 2615 to facilitate orientation andacceleration functions.

The camera subsystem 2620 is coupled to one or more optical sensors 2640(e.g., a charged coupled device (CCD) optical sensor, a complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor, etc.). The camerasubsystem 2620 coupled with the optical sensors 2640 facilitates camerafunctions, such as image and/or video data capturing. The wiredcommunication subsystem 2623 and wireless communication subsystem 2625serve to facilitate communication functions.

In some embodiments, the wireless communication subsystem 2625 includesradio frequency receivers and transmitters, and optical receivers andtransmitters (not shown in FIG. 26). These receivers and transmitters ofsome embodiments are implemented to operate over one or morecommunication networks such as a GSM network, a Wi-Fi network, aBluetooth network, etc. The audio subsystem 2630 is coupled to a speakerto output audio (e.g., to output voice navigation instructions).Additionally, the audio subsystem 2630 is coupled to a microphone tofacilitate voice-enabled functions in some embodiments.

The I/O subsystem 2635 involves the transfer between input/outputperipheral devices, such as a display, a touch screen, etc., and thedata bus of the processing units 2605 through the peripherals interface2615. The I/O subsystem 2635 includes a touch-screen controller 2655 andother input controllers 2660 to facilitate the transfer betweeninput/output peripheral devices and the data bus of the processing units2605. As shown, the touch-screen controller 2655 is coupled to a touchscreen 2665. The touch-screen controller 2655 detects contact andmovement on the touch screen 2665 using any of multiple touchsensitivity technologies. The other input controllers 2660 are coupledto other input/control devices, such as one or more buttons. Someembodiments include a near-touch sensitive screen and a correspondingcontroller that can detect near-touch interactions instead of or inaddition to touch interactions.

The memory interface 2610 is coupled to memory 2670. In someembodiments, the memory 2670 includes volatile memory (e.g., high-speedrandom access memory), non-volatile memory (e.g., flash memory), acombination of volatile and non-volatile memory, and/or any other typeof memory. As illustrated in FIG. 26, the memory 2670 stores anoperating system (OS) 2671. The OS 2671 includes instructions forhandling basic system services and for performing hardware dependenttasks. The memory 2670 additionally includes layout rearranginginstructions 2672 in order for the device 2600 to perform the layoutrearranging process of some embodiments. In some embodiments, theseinstructions 2672 may be a subset of the operating system instructions2671, or may be part of the instructions for an application.

The memory 2670 also includes communication instructions 2674 tofacilitate communicating with one or more additional devices (e.g., forpeer-to-peer data sharing, or to connect to a server through theInternet for cloud-based data sharing); graphical user interfaceinstructions 2676 to facilitate graphic user interface processing; imageprocessing instructions 2678 to facilitate image-related processing andfunctions; input processing instructions 2680 to facilitateinput-related (e.g., touch input) processes and functions; audioprocessing instructions 2682 to facilitate audio-related processes andfunctions; and camera instructions 2684 to facilitate camera-relatedprocesses and functions. The instructions described above are merelyexemplary and the memory 2670 includes additional and/or otherinstructions in some embodiments. For instance, the memory for asmartphone may include phone instructions to facilitate phone-relatedprocesses and functions. The above-identified instructions need not beimplemented as separate software programs or modules. Various functionsof the mobile computing device can be implemented in hardware and/or insoftware, including in one or more signal processing and/or applicationspecific integrated circuits.

While the components illustrated in FIG. 26 are shown as separatecomponents, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that two ormore components may be integrated into one or more integrated circuits.In addition, two or more components may be coupled together by one ormore communication buses or signal lines. Also, while many of thefunctions have been described as being performed by one component, oneof ordinary skill in the art will realize that the functions describedwith respect to FIG. 26 may be split into two or more integratedcircuits.

B. Computer System

FIG. 27 conceptually illustrates another example of an electronic system2700 with which some embodiments of the invention are implemented. Theelectronic system 2700 may be a computer (e.g., a desktop computer,personal computer, tablet computer, etc.), phone, PDA, or any other sortof electronic or computing device. Such an electronic system includesvarious types of computer readable media and interfaces for variousother types of computer readable media. Electronic system 2700 includesa bus 2705, processing unit(s) 2710, a graphics processing unit (GPU)2715, a system memory 2720, a network 2725, a read-only memory 2730, apermanent storage device 2735, input devices 2740, and output devices2745.

The bus 2705 collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipsetbuses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of theelectronic system 2700. For instance, the bus 2705 communicativelyconnects the processing unit(s) 2710 with the read-only memory 2730, theGPU 2715, the system memory 2720, and the permanent storage device 2735.

From these various memory units, the processing unit(s) 2710 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of the invention. The processing unit(s) may be a singleprocessor or a multi-core processor in different embodiments. Someinstructions are passed to and executed by the GPU 2715. The GPU 2715can offload various computations or complement the image processingprovided by the processing unit(s) 2710. In some embodiments, suchfunctionality can be provided using CoreImage's kernel shading language.

The read-only-memory (ROM) 2730 stores static data and instructions thatare needed by the processing unit(s) 2710 and other modules of theelectronic system. The permanent storage device 2735, on the other hand,is a read-and-write memory device. This device is a non-volatile memoryunit that stores instructions and data even when the electronic system2700 is off. Some embodiments of the invention use a mass-storage device(such as a magnetic or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive,integrated flash memory) as the permanent storage device 2735.

Other embodiments use a removable storage device (such as a floppy disk,flash memory device, etc., and its corresponding drive) as the permanentstorage device. Like the permanent storage device 2735, the systemmemory 2720 is a read-and-write memory device. However, unlike storagedevice 2735, the system memory 2720 is a volatile read-and-write memory,such a random access memory. The system memory 2720 stores some of theinstructions and data that the processor needs at runtime. In someembodiments, the invention's processes are stored in the system memory2720, the permanent storage device 2735, and/or the read-only memory2730. For example, the various memory units include instructions forprocessing multimedia clips in accordance with some embodiments. Fromthese various memory units, the processing unit(s) 2710 retrievesinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of some embodiments.

The bus 2705 also connects to the input and output devices 2740 and2745. The input devices 2740 enable the user to communicate informationand select commands to the electronic system. The input devices 2740include alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices (also called “cursorcontrol devices”), cameras (e.g., webcams), microphones or similardevices for receiving voice commands, etc. The output devices 2745display images generated by the electronic system or otherwise outputdata. The output devices 2745 include printers and display devices, suchas cathode ray tubes (CRT) or liquid crystal displays (LCD), as well asspeakers or similar audio output devices. Some embodiments includedevices such as a touchscreen that function as both input and outputdevices.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 27, bus 2705 also couples electronic system2700 to a network 2725 through a network adapter (not shown). In thismanner, the computer can be a part of a network of computers (such as alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), or anIntranet), or a network of networks, such as the Internet. Any or allcomponents of electronic system 2700 may be used in conjunction with theinvention.

Some embodiments include electronic components, such as microprocessors,storage and memory that store computer program instructions in amachine-readable or computer-readable medium (alternatively referred toas computer-readable storage media, machine-readable media, ormachine-readable storage media). Some examples of such computer-readablemedia include RAM, ROM, read-only compact discs (CD-ROM), recordablecompact discs (CD-R), rewritable compact discs (CD-RW), read-onlydigital versatile discs (e.g., DVD-ROM, dual-layer DVD-ROM), a varietyof recordable/rewritable DVDs (e.g., DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, etc.),flash memory (e.g., SD cards, mini-SD cards, micro-SD cards, etc.),magnetic and/or solid state hard drives, read-only and recordableBlu-Ray® discs, ultra density optical discs, any other optical ormagnetic media, and floppy disks. The computer-readable media may storea computer program that is executable by at least one processing unitand includes sets of instructions for performing various operations.Examples of computer programs or computer code include machine code,such as is produced by a compiler, and files including higher-level codethat are executed by a computer, an electronic component, or amicroprocessor using an interpreter.

While the above discussion primarily refers to microprocessor ormulti-core processors that execute software, some embodiments areperformed by one or more integrated circuits, such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs). In some embodiments, such integrated circuits executeinstructions that are stored on the circuit itself. In addition, someembodiments execute software stored in programmable logic devices(PLDs), ROM, or RAM devices.

As used in this specification and any claims of this application, theterms “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and “memory” all refer toelectronic or other technological devices. These terms exclude people orgroups of people. For the purposes of the specification, the termsdisplay or displaying means displaying on an electronic device. As usedin this specification and any claims of this application, the terms“computer readable medium,” “computer readable media,” and “machinereadable medium” are entirely restricted to tangible, physical objectsthat store information in a form that is readable by a computer. Theseterms exclude any wireless signals, wired download signals, and anyother ephemeral signals.

V. Map Service Environment

Various embodiments may operate within a map service operatingenvironment. FIG. 28 illustrates one possible embodiment of an operatingenvironment 2800 for a map service (also referred to as a mappingservice) 2830 and client devices 2802 a-2802 c. In some embodiments,devices 2802 a, 2802 b, and 2802 c communicate over one or more wired orwireless networks 2810. For example, wireless network 2810, such as acellular network, can communicate with a wide area network (WAN) 2820,such as the Internet, by use of gateway 2814. A gateway 2814 in someembodiments provides a packet oriented mobile data service, such asGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS), or other mobile data serviceallowing wireless networks to transmit data to other networks, such aswide area network 2820. Likewise, access device 2812 (e.g., IEEE2802.11g wireless access device) provides communication access to WAN2820.

The client devices 2802 a and 2802 b can be any portable electronic orcomputing device capable of communicating with a map service (e.g.,smart phone, tablet, laptop computer, etc.). Device 2802 c can be anynon-portable electronic or computing device capable of communicatingwith a map service (e.g., desktop computer, etc.). These devices may bemultifunction devices capable of various functions (e.g., placing phonecalls, sending electronic messages, producing documents, etc.). Thoughthe devices 2802 a-2802 c are not shown as each accessing the mapservice 2830 via either the wireless network 2810 and gateway 2814 orthe access device 2812, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat the client devices of some embodiments may access the map servicevia multiple different wired and/or wireless protocols.

Devices 2802 a-2802 c can also establish communications by other means.For example, these devices may communicate with other wireless devices(e.g., other devices 2802 b, cell phones, etc.) over the wirelessnetwork 2810 or through access device 2812. Likewise the devices 2802a-2802 c can establish peer-to-peer communications 2840 (e.g., apersonal area network) by use of one or more communication subsystems,such as Bluetooth® communication or similar peer-to-peer protocols.

Devices 2802 a-2802 c may also receive Global Positioning Satellite(GPS) signals from GPS satellites 2860. In addition, in some embodimentsthe map service 2830 and other services 2850 may also receive GPSsignals from GPS satellites 2860.

A map service 2830 may provide map services for one or more clientdevices 2802 a-2802 c in communication with the map service 2830 throughvarious communication methods and protocols. A map service 2830 in someembodiments provides map information (e.g., map tiles used by the clientdevices to generate a two-dimensional or three-dimensional mappresentation) and other map-related data, such as two-dimensional mapimage data (e.g., aerial view of roads utilizing satellite imagery),three-dimensional map image data (e.g., traversable map withthree-dimensional features, such as buildings), route and directioncalculations (e.g., driving route data, ferry route calculations,directions between two points for a pedestrian, etc.), real-timenavigation data (e.g., turn-by-turn visual navigation data in two orthree dimensions), traffic data, location data (e.g., where the clientdevice currently is located), and other geographic data (e.g., wirelessnetwork coverage, weather, traffic information, or nearbypoints-of-interest). In various embodiments, the map service data mayinclude localized labels for different countries or regions. Localizedlabels may be utilized to present map labels (e.g., street names, citynames, points of interest) in different languages on client devices. Theclient devices 2802 a-2802 c may utilize these map services to obtainthe various map service data, then implement various techniques toprocess the data and provide the processed data to various entities(e.g., internal software or hardware modules, display screens of theclient devices, external display screens, or other external systems ordevices.

The map service 2830 of some embodiments provides map services bygenerating and distributing the various types of map service data listedabove, including map information used by the client device to generateand display a map presentation. In some embodiments, the map informationincludes one or more map tiles. The map tiles may include raster imagedata (e.g., bmp, gif, jpg/jpeg/, png, tiff, etc. data) for display as amap presentation. In some embodiments, the map tiles providevector-based map data, with the map presentation data encoded usingvector graphics (e.g., svg or drw data). The map tiles may also includevarious other information pertaining to the map, such as metadata. Someembodiments also encode style data (e.g., used to generate textures)into the map tiles. The client device processes (e.g., renders) thevector and/or raster image data to generate a map presentation fordisplay as a two-dimensional or three-dimensional map presentation. Totransmit the map tiles to a client device 2802 a-2802 c, the map service2830 of some embodiments, performs various optimization techniques toanalyze a map tile before encoding the tile.

In some embodiments, the map tiles are generated by the map service 2830for different possible display resolutions at the client devices 2802a-2802 c. In some embodiments, the higher zoom levels may include moredetail (e.g., more street level information, etc.). On the other hand,map tiles for lower zoom levels may omit certain data (e.g., the streetlevel details would not be used when displaying the entire earth).

To generate the map information (e.g., map tiles), the map service 2830may obtain map service data from internal or external sources. Forexample, satellite imagery used in map image data may be obtained fromexternal services, or internal systems, storage devices, or nodes. Otherexamples may include, but are not limited to, GPS assistance servers,wireless network coverage databases, business or personal directories,weather data, government information (e.g., construction updates or roadname changes), or traffic reports. Some embodiments of a map service mayupdate map service data (e.g., wireless network coverage) for analyzingfuture requests from client devices.

In some embodiments, the map service 2830 responds to requests from theclient devices 2802 a-2802 c for map information. The client devices mayrequest specific portions of a map, or specific map tiles (e.g.,specific tiles at specific zoom levels). In some embodiments, the clientdevices may provide the map service with starting locations (or currentlocations) and destination locations for a route calculations, andrequest turn-by-turn navigation data. A client device may also requestmap service rendering information, such as map textures or style sheets.Requests for other geographic data may include, but are not limited to,current location, wireless network coverage, weather, trafficinformation, or nearby points-of-interest.

The client devices 2802 a-2802 c that obtain map service data from themap service 2830 and render the data to display the map information intwo-dimensional and/or three-dimensional views. Some embodiments displaya rendered map and allow a user, system, or device to provide input tomanipulate a virtual camera for the map, changing the map displayaccording to the virtual camera's position, orientation, andfield-of-view. Various forms and input devices are implemented tomanipulate a virtual camera. In some embodiments, touch input, throughcertain single or combination gestures (e.g., touch-and-hold or a swipe)manipulate the virtual camera. Other embodiments allow manipulation ofthe device's physical location to manipulate a virtual camera. Otherinput devices to the client device may be used including, e.g., auditoryinput (e.g., spoken words), a physical keyboard, mouse, and/or ajoystick. Some embodiments provide various visual feedback to virtualcamera manipulations, such as displaying an animation of possiblevirtual camera manipulations when transitioning from two-dimensional mapviews to three-dimensional map views.

In some embodiments, a client device 2802 a-2802 c implements anavigation system (e.g., turn-by-turn navigation), which may be part ofan integrated mapping and navigation application. A navigation systemprovides directions or route information, which may be displayed to auser. As mentioned above, a client device may receive both map imagedata and route data from the map service 2830. In some embodiments, thenavigation feature of the client device provides real-time route anddirection information based upon location information and routeinformation received from a map service and/or other location system,such as a Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system. A client device maydisplay map image data that reflects the current location of the clientdevice and update the map image data in real-time. The navigationfeatures may provide auditory or visual directions to follow a certainroute, and some embodiments display map data from the perspective of avirtual camera biased toward the route destination during turn-by-turnnavigation.

The client devices 2802 a-2802 c of some embodiments implement varioustechniques to utilize the received map service data (e.g., optimizedrendering techniques). In some embodiments, a client device locallystores some of the information used to render map data. For instance,client devices may store style sheets with rendering directions forimage data containing style identifiers, common image textures (in orderto decrease the amount of map image data transferred from the mapservice), etc.. The client devices of some embodiments may implementvarious techniques to render two-dimensional and three-dimensional mapimage data, including, e.g., generating three-dimensional buildings outof two-dimensional building footprint data; modeling two-dimensional andthree-dimensional map objects to determine the client devicecommunication environment; generating models to determine whether maplabels are seen from a certain virtual camera position; and generatingmodels to smooth transitions between map image data.

In various embodiments, map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850are configured to process search requests from any of the clientdevices. Search requests may include but are not limited to queries forbusinesses, addresses, residential locations, points of interest, orsome combination thereof. Map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850may be configured to return results related to a variety of parametersincluding but not limited to a location entered into an address bar orother text entry field (including abbreviations and/or other shorthandnotation), a current map view (e.g., user may be viewing one location onthe multifunction device while residing in another location), currentlocation of the user (e.g., in cases where the current map view did notinclude search results), and the current route (if any). In variousembodiments, these parameters may affect the composition of the searchresults (and/or the ordering of the search results) based on differentpriority weightings. In various embodiments, the search results that arereturned may be a subset of results selected based on specific criteriaincluding but not limited to a quantity of times the search result(e.g., a particular point of interest) has been requested, a measure ofquality associated with the search result (e.g., highest user oreditorial review rating), and/or the volume of reviews for the searchresults (e.g., the number of times the search result has been review orrated).

In various embodiments, map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850are configured to provide auto-complete search results that aredisplayed on the client device, such as within the mapping application.For instance, auto-complete search results may populate a portion of thescreen as the user enters one or more search keywords on themultifunction device. In some cases, this feature may save the user timeas the desired search result may be displayed before the user enters thefull search query. In various embodiments, the auto complete searchresults may be search results found by the client on the client device(e.g., bookmarks or contacts), search results found elsewhere (e.g.,from the Internet) by map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850,and/or some combination thereof. As is the case with commands, any ofthe search queries may be entered by the user via voice or throughtyping. The multifunction device may be configured to display searchresults graphically within any of the map display described herein. Forinstance, a pin or other graphical indicator may specify locations ofsearch results as points of interest. In various embodiments, responsiveto a user selection of one of these points of interest (e.g., a touchselection, such as a tap), the multifunction device is configured todisplay additional information about the selected point of interestincluding but not limited to ratings, reviews or review snippets, hoursof operation, store status (e.g., open for business, permanently closed,etc.), and/or images of a storefront for the point of interest. Invarious embodiments, any of this information may be displayed on agraphical information card that is displayed in response to the user'sselection of the point of interest.

In various embodiments, map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850provide one or more feedback mechanisms to receive feedback from clientdevices 2802 a-2802 c. For instance, client devices may provide feedbackon search results to map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850(e.g., feedback specifying ratings, reviews, temporary or permanentbusiness closures, errors etc.); this feedback may be used to updateinformation about points of interest in order to provide more accurateor more up-to-date search results in the future. In some embodiments,map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850 may provide testinginformation to the client device (e.g., an A/B test) to determine whichsearch results are best. For instance, at random intervals, the clientdevice may receive and present two search results to a user and allowthe user to indicate the best result. The client device may report thetest results to map service 2830 and/or other service(s) 2850 to improvefuture search results based on the chosen testing technique, such as anA/B test technique in which a baseline control sample is compared to avariety of single-variable test samples in order to improve results.

While the invention has been described with reference to numerousspecific details, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize thatthe invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. For instance, a number of the figures(including FIGS. 7, 16, and 18) conceptually illustrate processes. Thespecific operations of these processes may not be performed in the exactorder shown and described. The specific operations may not be performedin one continuous series of operations, and different specificoperations may be performed in different embodiments. Furthermore, theprocess could be implemented using several sub-processes, or as part ofa larger macro process. Thus, one of ordinary skill in the art wouldunderstand that the invention is not to be limited by the foregoingillustrative details, but rather is to be defined by the appendedclaims.

We claim:
 1. A method for displaying transit information in a mapregion, the method comprising: identifying a plurality of transit linesfor a map region, each transit line corresponding to at least onetransit vehicle route; based on a particular zoom level of the map,determining a subset of the transit lines to display in the map region;and displaying the subset of the transit lines in the map region toemphasize the transit lines over other map features.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein displaying the subset of the transit lines comprises:identifying at least one particular transit line of the subset of thetransit lines as being more important than other transit lines of thesubset; and displaying the particular transit line thicker and withhigher color saturation in relation to the other transit lines of thesubset.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the particular transit linerepresents a transit route that operates at a higher frequency thentransit routes represented by the other transit lines.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein frequency is based on an average number of passengersthat ride the transit route within a specified time period.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein a plurality of the transit lines of thesubset of transit lines are displayed in colors that correspond tocolors used by transit system providers that operate the transit line'scorresponding transit route.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprisingdisplaying, for a plurality of transit lines in the subset, a set oftransit stations intersected by the transit line.
 7. The method of claim6, wherein at least one of the transit stations is displayed using thesame color as the transit line that intersects the transit station. 8.The method of claim 6, wherein, when a particular transit station of theset of transit stations is intersected by at least two transit lines,the particular transit station is displayed using white rather than thecolor of either of the transit lines.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereina shape and a size of the particular transit station is based on atleast one of the particular zoom level, a location at which the transitstation is intersected by the transit lines, and a number of transitlines that intersect the transit station.
 10. The method of claim 6,wherein displaying the set of transit stations comprises determining,for each transit station in the set of transit stations, a set offeatures to represent the transit station for display in the map regionbased on the particular zoom level of the map.
 11. The method of claim10, wherein at a first zoom level the set of features comprises anoblong shape, wherein at a second zoom level the set of featurescomprises at least one of a first set of polygons that represent anabove-ground structure of the transit station and a second set ofpolygons that represent a below-ground structure of the transit station.12. The method of claim 10, wherein the set of features comprisesindicators for identifying entrances into the transit station.
 13. Themethod of claim 6, wherein at least one displayed transit station in theset of transit stations comprises a plurality of transit stations thatare combined and represented as the single displayed transit station,wherein the method further comprises displaying a label with a city namealongside the single displayed transit station.
 14. A non-transitorymachine readable medium storing a mapping application which whenexecuted by at least one processing unit displays transit information ina map region, the mapping application comprising sets of instructionsfor: identifying a plurality of transit lines for a map region, eachtransit line corresponding to at least one transit vehicle route; basedon a particular zoom level of the map, determining a subset of thetransit lines to display in the map region; and displaying the subset ofthe transit lines in the map region to emphasize the transit lines overother map features.
 15. The machine readable medium of claim 14, whereinthe transit lines are emphasized over other map features byde-emphasizing the other features, wherein de-emphasizing compriseslowering color saturation of the other features in relation to thetransit lines.
 16. The machine readable medium of claim 14, wherein theother map features comprise roads without transit lines, land cover, andpoints of interest.
 17. The machine readable medium of claim 14, whereineach displayed transit line is positioned in the map region according toits corresponding transit route's actual geographical position.
 18. Anelectronic device comprising: a set of processing units; and anon-transitory machine readable medium storing a mapping applicationwhich when executed by at least one processing unit displays transitinformation in a map region, the mapping application comprising sets ofinstructions for: identifying a plurality of transit lines for a mapregion, each transit line corresponding to at least one transit vehicleroute; based on a particular zoom level of the map, determining a subsetof the transit lines to display in the map region; and displaying thesubset of the transit lines in the map region to emphasize the transitlines over other map features.
 19. The electronic device of claim 18,wherein the set of instructions for displaying the subset of the transitlines comprises sets of instructions for: identifying at least oneparticular transit line of the subset of the transit lines as being moreimportant than other transit lines of the subset; and displaying theparticular transit line thicker and with higher color saturation inrelation to the other transit lines of the subset.
 20. The electronicdevice of claim 19, wherein the particular transit line represents atransit route that operates at a higher frequency then transit routesrepresented by the other transit lines.
 21. The electronic device ofclaim 18, wherein the mapping application further comprises a set ofinstructions for displaying, for a plurality of transit lines in thesubset, a set of transit stations intersected by the transit line.